


Anaea Jackson and the Titan's Curse

by IWantColouredRain



Series: Ana Jackson and the Olympians [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-08-07 12:11:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 76,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16408253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWantColouredRain/pseuds/IWantColouredRain
Summary: Luke loves his girls, but it really grates on him to be known as 'Ana Jackson and Thalia Grace's sidekick'. Deep down, he's always longed to prove himself, properly. Not by redoing someone else's quest for no reason. But, if he had known the cost, he would never have tempted the Fates. He wished it wasn't her. Anybody but her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Βλασφημίες: Damn in Greek.**

**Chapter One**

**The Dungeon of Doom (A.K.A, Westover Military School)**

The Friday before the start of winter break, Thalia and I packed ourselves into a camp van (driven by Argus), we stopped at Montauk Beach long enough to pick up Ana from her cabin, and then we all drove down to boarding school.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbour, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Ana, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in nearly three weeks, not since Ana's latest bout of claustrophobia had sent her running out of Camp as fast as she could, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much.

Instead, I sharpened my sword (completely unnecessarily, but better wicked sharp than so dull it breaks in the middle of a fight, right?), Ana chewed on her finger so much it bled, and Thalia played with her mace canister. A.k.a, her deadly spear. Don't think I didn't notice that if she had summoned it, it would've gone right through the seat into my back. It was a relief when Argus finally pulled up and stopped in front of the school.

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun."

"Dungeon of doom, anyone?" Ana grimaced, eyeing it doubtfully as she reached up to fiddle with the hairpin that doubled as her own deadly weapon, a (possibly cursed) sword called Anaklusmos.

I completely understood their wariness. Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frost-covered forest on one side and the grey churning ocean on the other.

We piled out of the van, and Argus peeled off as soon the doors were shut, leaving up stranded.

Ana crossed her arms and glared up at the castle like her father was inside. She'd been in a bad mood since we collected her. Presumably the result of being pulled out of bed and forced to endanger her life. Anything that risked body harm to herself or someone she liked tended to put her a pissy mood. Not that I was stupid enough to actually  _say_  that she was being pissy, of course. I had common sense, thanks very much. And a fondness for being alive.

"We'd better get inside," she said after a moment. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Nothing good," I guessed.

They shot me matching looks of exasperation as the oak doors groaned open, and the three of us stepped into the entry hall in a dramatic swirl of snow.

"Whoa," Ana muttered. Her sea-coloured eyes were wide as she took in the entrance hall, reminding me of a doe or something.

The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. I mean, I knew Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.

My hand went to my waist, where my sword hung from its' hilt. I could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Ana was tapping at her bracelet/shield nervously, and bouncing lightly on the ball of her feet. Thalia was rubbing her own silver bracelet, which turned into a replica of Aegis. I knew that we were all thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.

"I wonder where—" Ana began.

She was cut off mid-sentence when the doors slammed shut behind us.

"Okay," I mumbled. "Guess we're sticking around for a while."

"Apparently," Thalia replied.

"Well," Ana sighed. "When in doubt, follow the music."

For a second, I was confused by her seemingly random statement. Then I realized that I could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. And bad music at that.

We stashed our overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. We hadn't gone very far when I heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept us.

They both had short grey hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Ana shot me a pointed look, silently demanding I use my superb lying skills to get us out of trouble again. I decided to oblige, because if Ana got sick from being tossed in a pile of snow, we would all suffer for it.

"Ma'am," I began soothingly. "we're just—"

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colours—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's. Something about him made me bristle, and I could see Ana eyeing him suspiciously, her pianist-like fingers twitching in that way that told me she wanted her sword.

That was when Thalia stepped forward and did something very weird. She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of us, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said smoothly. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Ana and Luke. We're in the eighth grade."

The male teacher narrowed his two-coloured eyes. I didn't know what Thalia was thinking. Her lie wasn't remotely believable, especially seeing as I was too old to be eighth grade. Ana had a look of impressed realization on her face, though. And the guy seemed to be hesitating.

He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. A teacher named Got Chalk? He had to be kidding. Ana's lips twitched in amusement, and I saw her bite her lip to keep from snickering.

The woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "I… yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at us. "Ana. Thalia. Luke. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

Before we could answer, I heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. "You made it! You—"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."

Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

Dr. Thorn glared at us. He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

We didn't wait to be told twice. We left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.

Grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music. Ana moved closer to Thalia.

"I don't know how you do it," she muttered to her. "I'm not have as good at using the Mist as you, and Chiron taught me a year ago. Seriously, how do you do it?"

"I'll work with you on it later, if you want," Thalia shrugged. "But I think it's just one of those things, you know? Some people get a handle on it easier than others do, and vice versa."

Ana gave a thoughtful nod, fidgeting with her bracelet again. I smirked slightly, shoving my hands into my back pockets. This was one of the times that I enjoyed the way the two girls had bonded so easily. And they really had.

I had always had the thought in the back of my mind that if Thalia and Ana had ever met, they'd either be best friends or worst enemies, but I had figured it would never matter, so I hadn't let myself linger on it. Then Thalia had come back, and everyone had been on edge for a while, as the two girls kept a wary distance between each other, testing each other in a way.

It had been incredibly awkward for me, as I had been acting as Thalia's support, yet Ana had needed me too. I still felt guilty when I thought of how I had let my responsibilities to her, as her best friend, fall to the wayside. It had taken a broken nose courtesy of Silena, and several broken ribs from Clarisse to make me realize what a shit friend I had been acting like to Ana.

Then, Ana had come to the realization that Thalia was now more likely to be the Prophecy Child than she was. Seeing as the thought of the Great Prophecy had terrified her from the moment of her claiming, the chance that she wasn't had delighted her, and let her relax. (The fact that most people still treated Ana as leader, instead of the daughter of Zeus probably helped as well, though it tended to irritate Thalia.) Still, they had eventually become like two peas in a pod.

Personally, in some ways I almost preferred it when they were just acquaintances, cause now they've both teamed up against me, and the closer they become, the more dangerous my life is.

Seriously, what made me think that becoming best friends with two very powerful and violent girls was a good idea? My siblings were right when they said that I was a suicidal idiot.

I snapped out of my wandering thoughts when we arrived at a door that had GYM written on the glass. Even with my dyslexia, I could read that much.

"That was close!" Grover exclaimed. "Thank the gods you got here!"

Ana and Thalia both hugged Grover. I gave him a big high five.

It was good to see him after so many months. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human—a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was, like, Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.

"So what's the emergency?" Ana asked when she'd finished fussing over him in a motherly manner.

Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"

Grover nodded.

Ana covered her mouth while I muttered a shocked curse. Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there, and we couldn't exactly recruit three-year-olds to the cause.

"A brother and a sister," Grover told us, shifting nervously. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Grover looked at Thalia desperately. Ana twitched slightly at that, and I subtly brushed against her supportively. They might be friends, but Ana had gotten used to being in charge. Bowing to Thalia's seniority didn't come easily to her, though she did. (And she was a lot better about it than Thalia was, when the positions were reversed and the campers turned to Ana for instructions.)

"Right," Thalia nodded, planting her hands on her hips. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance," she shrugged. "Who's the monster?"

"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something. Or maybe it's like that for any school dance. I wouldn't know.

There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each others' faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way the mortal ones always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly coloured pants and shoes that looked like torture devices.

Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys looked more like me—uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in my case, it was true…

"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di'Angelo."

The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

"Do they… I mean, have you told them?" Ana asked.

Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."

She nodded understandingly. The stronger you were, the more monsters you attracted. If you knew about your heritage, your scent doubled even more. Ana tended to be attacked twice on a good week. I typically got three or four monsters a month when I was alone outside of camp.

"So let's grab them and get out of here," Ana said. I could tell she felt trapped by the crowded room, and the confirmed presence of a monster was only making her worse. Otherwise she would have realized what a terrible idea that was.

She started forward, but Thalia put her hand on her shoulder to stop her. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.

Judging from his expression, I guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were. He was just waiting to see why we were here. Hades, we had probably confirmed his suspicions about the kids the minute we stepped foot on the grounds.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered us quietly, not looking at Thorn. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?" Ana wondered, reaching up to adjust her braid casually and brushing against her hairpin in the process.

"We're three powerful half-bloods," Thalia reasoned. "Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Dance a bit. But keep an eye on those kids."

"Dancing?" Ana repeated, looking doubtful.

Thalia nodded. She cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

Grover looked hurt. "I did."

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

"Never mind. Let's dance."

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."

Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

I smiled unconsciously, and Ana raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's got you so happy?" she asked.

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Her expression softened, and I tried to think of a new topic.

"So, how's the book thing going?" I blurted out, feeling like an idiot immediately.

For her birthday, Chiron had somehow managed to get a hold of all of the things that had once belonged to Ana's mother. It had all been placed in storage, and she shouldn't have gotten it until she was, like, twenty-one or something. Her face had lit up as she took in the boxes. Among the various knickknacks and clothes (she was wearing an old tie-dyed skirt of her mom's right now, actually), there were a bunch of journals belonging to Sally Jackson, going all the way back to when she was about ten-years-old.

Knowing how much her mother had wanted to be an author, Ana had set herself the task of writing a book based on the journals. She had recruited help from about half the Athena cabin and Katie (who was one of the few half-bloods without dyslexia), and they were working on it determinedly. But Ana was the only one actually  _reading_ them, and she had never really gotten over losing her mother, so it was always a toss-up as to whether or not the topic would make her cry or not. Thankfully, this time it didn't.

"It's going," she sighed. "But it's so hard, ya know? All these things I didn't know about her. It hurts to think about it."

"I'm sorry," I muttered helplessly. There was nothing worse than an upset Ana, and I hated not being able to help. I had practically flown away from my mother and her rambling fits. Ana, however, considered her mother worth more than all of the goddesses on Olympus combined. Thankfully, I was saved from upsetting her more.

"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. I didn't blame him. Thalia had a dangerous look in her eyes, one that usually preceded lightning bolts.

"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."

I looked at Ana, holding out a hand and bowing dramatically. "Miss Jackson," I said pompously. "Would you do me the honour of partnering with me for this dance?"

She snickered and accepted. "I shall," she replied in an equally over-the-top voice. We both laughed as we began spinning around the floor. We actually weren't too bad. The result of Silena's hard work, and Ana's natural grace, I suppose.

Suddenly our fun was interrupted when Ana froze, making me stumble and nearly slip on the polished floor.

"They're gone!" She hissed urgently, looking frantic.

"What?"

I followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

"βλασφημίες," Ana swore. She glanced at me as she began fumbling for her sword. "You go after the kids, trying and delay Thorn. I'll get the others."

I nodded and she ran off through the crowd.

Then I turned in the direction where the di'Angelos had just been, and I saw something that chilled my blood.

About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di'Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di'Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

The door led into a dark hallway. I heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. I unsheathed my sword. Like all demigod weapons, it was made of Celestial Bronze, and the blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers.

I jogged down the corridor, but when I got to the other end, no one was there. I opened a door and found myself back in the main entry hall. I was completely turned around. I didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di'Angelo kids. They stood frozen in horror, staring right at me.

I advanced slowly, lowering the tip of my sword. "It's okay," I said in my 'little sibling' voice. "I'm not going to hurt you."

They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. What was wrong with them? Where was Dr. Thorn? Maybe he'd sensed the presence of my sword and retreated. Monsters hated Celestial Bronze weapons. Still, something about this felt wrong. I had to get the kids and get out of here. Quickly.

"My name's Luke," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."

Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only too late did I realize what her look meant. She wasn't afraid of me. She was trying to warn me.

I whirled around and something went WHISH! Pain exploded in my shoulder. A force like a huge hand yanked me backward and slammed me to the wall.

I slashed with my sword but there was nothing to hit.

A cold laugh echoed through the hall.

"Ah, Lukas Castellan," Dr. Thorn said. "I know who you are. The sidekick of the daughters of the Big Three."

I tried to free my shoulder. My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I'd felt something like this before. Poison.

I forced myself to concentrate. I would not pass out.

A dark silhouette now moved toward us. Dr. Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of my sword.

"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."

I tried to swing my sword again, but he was just out of reach.

WHIIIISH! A second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn. He didn't appear to move. It was as if someone invisible were standing behind him, throwing knives.

Next to me, Bianca yelped. The second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, half an inch from her face.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."


	2. The World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight with Thorn causes a hero to be lost.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I'm so glad everyone's likes this! I hope you all enjoy my take on the Titan's Curse. You'll find out who's kidnapped in this chapter, and I hope you like the twist.**

**Chapter Two**

**The World Doesn't Stop Turning**

I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was yet, but he was definitely fast.

Maybe I could defend myself if I got into a fight with him. But defending the di Angelo kids was another matter. They were frightened and untrained: a.k.a liabilities. I needed help, preferably from one or both of my ultra-powerful girls. Still, right now the only thing that I could do was slow him down, delay him until Ana and Thalia arrived.

I slowed down, faking (well exaggerating, anyway) an expression of pain as I pressed a hand to my shoulder.

"What are you doing, Castellan?" hissed Dr. Thorn. "Keep moving!"

I kept shuffling forward. "It's my shoulder," I lied, faking a tone of misery, which wasn't hard. "It hurts."

"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"

Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate, searching for an opening to either attack or run away.

Thorn marched us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like an icicle.

"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride from there."

"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"

"Silence, you insufferable girl!"

"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico said. His voice quivered, but I was impressed that he had the bravery to say anything at all. Maybe he would last a week, after all. I'd doubted it, before.

Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive, instead of plotting my captor's death.

"Halt," Thorn ordered, holding up his hand.

The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness.

Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, and Bianca caught me.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"What is he?" she whispered. "How do we fight him?"

"I'm working on it."

"I'm scared," Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something—a little metal toy soldier of some kind.

"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn ordered us sharply. "Face me!"

We turned. I could literally just hear Ana's scathing remarks and grumbles over being told what to do in my mind.

Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package—it is ready to deliver."

There was a garbled reply, and I realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy—a monster using a mobile phone.

I glanced behind me, wondering how far the drop was. I was wearing my shoes, so maybe I could grab the kids, jump and use the shoes to support us. On the other hand, they were delicate shoes. I had my doubts they could keep all three of us up. If it was too far down, we end up as half-blood pancakes. And Ana and Thalia would be  _pissed_. Which is bad for everyone, believe me.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Hermes. You have those gifts your father gives in bulk. Jump! Save yourself."

"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.

"I'll explain later," I replied. Mentally, I rolled my eyes. Did she not realize this was a life-or-death situation, and I was trying to save her and her brother? Priorities!

"You do have a plan, right?"

"Oh sure," I answered breezily. "Great one, actually."

It  _was_  a great plan, really, I defended myself mentally. Two angry daughters of the Big Three. Women scorned + superpowers and pointy objects = Very Dead Thorn Thing.

A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible… almost like a tail. Okay, what monsters had tails? Woah, that narrows it down, my mental voice, that sounded distressingly like a mixture of my girls, scoffed sarcastically. I pulled a face in my mind as a reply.

"Unfortunately," Thorn sighed regretfully, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I…" Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."

"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

"Ethan and Annabeth," I hissed. "You work for them."

In order to prevent myself from getting into the raw pain of betrayal I felt whenever I thought about them, I nurtured a constant rage instead. Much easier to think of the two as vicious, psychotic enemies who had nearly killed Ana multiple times, instead of the tiny blonde girl who'd attacked me with a hammer and I had sworn would be family, or the small ten-year-old who had been so frightened by the revelation of his heritage.

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when I said the names. "You have no idea what is happening, Luke Castellan. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" I asked. Then I realized I'd said it with a French accent. "I mean… who's the General?"

Thorn didn't answer, instead looking towards the horizon and smirking in cartoon villain kind of way. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer. My heart sank.

"Where are you taking us?" Nico asked, his voice trembling.

"You should be honoured, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him stalled while I waited for my reinforcements.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts."

"We have to jump off the cliff," I told her quietly. "Into the sea." We would be better off soaking wet with broken bones than captured by the Titans, anyway.

"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too."

I never got the chance to argue with her, because just then my secret weapon arrived.

"Get away from them!" Ana called as she stepped out from the mist dramatically.

Her braided hair had come loose, so it whipped around her face. Her sea-green eyes were steely and determined, as they always were in battle. She was short, but her power radiated from her, and her athletic form, combined with her confident stance, intimidated anybody stupid enough to cross her. Her tanned skin almost glowed in the misty light. In short, she was as beautiful as any goddess.

"Anaea Jackson, the infamous daughter of Poseidon," Thorn sneered, but we had all seen his momentary horror at the sight of her before he had hidden it. I smirked in amusement.

She grinned cockily at him, Anaklusmos held in her favourite opening stance, a defensive position that easily twisted into an attacking lunge.

"And Thalia, daughter of Zeus," said girl added, stepping up beside Ana with a grin. "Bring it, asshole!"

Without giving Thorn a chance to react, they both moved.

If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never been truly frightened. Her shield is modelled after one her dad Zeus uses—also called Aegis. His was a gift from Athena. Thalia's was gotten at the cost of a good man's life. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa moulded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Ana attacked from the sides while Thalia moved in with her spear.

I thought Dr. Thorn was a goner. While Ana swiped at his tail, Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. Ana was forced to back away without harming him to avoid being impaled. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look back at it.

I wanted to help, but that would interrupt the girls' rhythm, and leave the di'Angelos without a protector. I had to resort to watching for an opening, instead.

Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at the girls, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down. Ana darted in again, managing to slash his side before jumping away to avoid some more spikes, ending up beside me.

Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.

Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"A manticore!" Ana exclaimed. "γαμώ." Ana can have a really salty mouth sometimes. Still, I had to agree with her in this case.

"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" Nico gasped at the same time. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

"He also has very sharp, very real spikes that can impale you," Ana snapped at him. "Get down, both of you!"

Personally, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but we didn't have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward us with a snarl.

"Get down!" Ana ordered again, and this time I helped by pushing the di'Angelos flat into the snow.

Meanwhile, Ana summoned her own shield. She tugged at the dolphin charm hanging from her bracelet, and metal plating spiralled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from Ana's brother, was badly damaged. I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley. The fury on Ana's face almost made me feel bad for Thorn. Almost.

I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to me with a thud.

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its' tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

"No!" Ana and I ran out to help her. I parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest while Ana raised her shield over us, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We were beyond screwed.

Then I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. That's when I realized just how much worse everything had gotten.

The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.

"No," Dr. Thorn breathed, looking horrified. If this was what I suspected it was, I couldn't blame him for the horror. In fact, I shared it. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder.

He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in mid-air and sliced them in two, and it confirmed my suspicions. I only knew about one group that could shoot with that much accuracy.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Ana tried to swipe at him with her sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged her attack and slammed his tail into her shield, knocking heraside, though she quickly jumped back to her feet.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like me. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters of Artemis," Ana gasped at my side. I was more than a little concerned by the admiration in her voice. Ana didn't admire people lightly, and she'd never mentioned an interest in the Hunters to me.

Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery coloured skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. It was Zoe Nightshade, the Lieutenant of the Hunters. "Permission to kill, my lady?"

I scanned the group, searching for Artemis. Ana was panting lightly at my side.

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than me, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made me catch my breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. Artemis, the Olympian goddess of the hunt, the moon, and chastity. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at Zoe. "Zoe, permission granted."

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at the two di'Angelos, untrained and defenceless.

"No!" Ana and I both called. Time seemed to slow down, like it often did in the middle of a battle.

I somehow ended up in front of the siblings, deflecting a spike but losing my balance and falling over in the process.

When I looked up, Ana was standing over me, Anaklusmos raised defiantly. Thorn lunged into her, pushed by the impact from a dozen arrows. He grabbed Ana as he staggered forward, and, before I could do anything, the two of them had tumbled over the side of the cliff, Ana letting out an instinctual scream in the process.

"NO!" I bellowed. I hurled myself after her, but Thalia and Grover both grabbed my ankles to stop me. And our enemies weren't done with us. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire.

Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but Artemis just looked up calmly at the helicopter.

"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust—no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds—ravens, which scattered into the night.

The Hunters advanced on us.

Zoe stopped short when she saw Thalia, who was still gripping my left ankle to restrain me. "You," she said with distaste.

"Zoe Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoe scanned the rest of us. "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

"Yes," Artemis acknowledged. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

I barely noticed, too busy trying to get out to Thalia and Grover's tight grips so I could jump after Ana.

Artemis turned toward me. "I'm sorry, Luke Castellan, but your friend is beyond help." She almost sounded compassionate, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

I tried to struggle to my feet, but a couple of the girls helped my friends to hold me down.

"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the goddess said strictly.

"She's not dead," I groaned. "She can't be dead. She's _Ana_ , she can't be dead."

It wasn't possible. Anaea Jackson was the strongest, kindest, most determined person I had ever met. She was sarcastic and beautiful and compassionate. She was not dead. The world would have stopped moving if she had died, surely?

"She's not dead," Grover agreed. I turned to him hopefully, suddenly remembering their empathy-bond, forged last summer when Grover was kidnapped. He would know, right?

"She's alive," he continued. "I swear on the Styx, Luke. Ana is  _alive_."


	3. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca di'Angelo makes a choice.

 

 

 

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Glad everyone's so pleased with the new POV and the twist. As for getting Ana to take the sky, I have a plan for that. Also, I don't like Bianca, and while I'll try not to bash her, that dislike might come through. Hope no one'll be put off though! It's only one book! Thanks to the people who pointed out the name mix-up! Fixed now.**

**Chapter Three**

**A Di'Angelo's Decision**

When Grover finished with what I thought was the important thing, that is, Ana was alive, he belatedly realized that the twelve-year-old girl was the goddess Artemis. His reaction was. Interesting, shall we say?

By that, I mean that he gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"

I feared that whatever had to Ana had damaged him through the empathy link. Who greeted an Olympian with such pleasure after all?

Thalia evidently disagreed with his actions as well. "Get up, goat boy!" she snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Ana is gone!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Priorities, Grover. Your best friend, remember her? The one who just got dragged over a cliff and somehow disappeared despite the water!"

He scrambled back to his hooves, looking guilty. But before he could say anything, someone else spoke up first.

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you! Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

"Our parents are dead," Bianca replied. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"

She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.

"What?" she demanded, sounding defensive. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a half-blood," Zoe told her. Her accent was from Ancient Greece and she spoke Old English. I knew that she was Artemis' oldest living Hunter, but don't bother asking me more than that, cause I don't have a clue. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?"

"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" Nico declared, sounding and looking utterly thrilled. He didn't seem to understand the reality of the circumstances at all. Bianca seemed less delusional.

"No!" her voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around excitedly, hopping from one leg to the other. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no such things as gods!"

As anxious as I felt about Ana—all I wanted to do was search for her—I couldn't help feeling sorry for the di'Angelos. I had known my heritage all my life. Hard not to when your mother randomly spewed green smoke and predicted various dismal fates for you.

But I had seen dozens of kids go through first learning they were demigods. For example, Travis and Connor had been stunned, their heavily Christian mother having decided they were demons and tossed them to the curb after a monster attack. Ana had been grimly practical, and already harbouring the typical resentment of a half-blood for their godly parent, only less hidden.

Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous."

"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."

I caught my breath, feeling as if I had just been punched in the stomach. Thalia turned away and Grover looked stricken. Even Artemis looked pained.

"Have a little fucking respect," I growled at the di'Angelos, my sympathy quickly fading. "She fell saving  _you_." They flinched back, Nico's grin slipping briefly.

"Do not despair for Anaea," the goddess said. "She was a brave and strong maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" I asked. "She might be in the water, healing or something!"

"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Hermes? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

I still wanted to jump off the cliff and search for her, but I knew that Artemis was right. Ana was gone. If she'd been down there in the sea, she would have come back up by now.

"Oo!" Nico raised his hand, like we were in a mortal classroom or something. He didn't appear affected by the possibility of the greatest girl I'd ever known having died to save him anymore. Bad trade, I thought silently. Anaea Jackson for an over-excited kid and his in-denial older sister. How the Hades did that work?

"What about Dr. Thorn?" Nico asked, looking gleeful. "It was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."

"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia added darkly as she turned back, her composure restored once again. I couldn't help but notice her mascara was slightly smudged, and her eyes shone. Subtly, I brushed against her hand, both for and to support.

Bianca shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"

"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I  _told_  you that really happened."

"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods. He's a protector, a really good one." One that had found both the only children of the Big Three born in decades. That made something niggle at the back of my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I shrugged and dismissed it. It'd come back to me.

"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. I thought Bianca was going to faint right then and there.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia ordered. "You're freaking her out."

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

"Bianca," I said, cutting in. "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Doctor Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" she repeated questioningly.

"Camp Half-Blood," I explained, the familiar spiel falling off my tongue without thinking about it.

Good thing too. I didn't want to be thinking. I wanted Ana to explain this. She was way better with kids than I was. She just had this air about her, you know? Like she'd rip the world apart to protect the ones she cared about.

"It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico, jumping in place. Oh yeah, this kid had ADHD alright.

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't—"

"There is another option," Zoe said.

"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.

I tensed. We had come across a few of the Hunters before, years ago. After Annabeth, and before Grover. Zoe had tried to convince Thalia and Annabeth to join them, insisting that, because I was a male, I would betray them. Of course, in the end it had been  _Annabeth_  who was the traitor. No one had ever expected that. Definitely not me. Not even Ana, who'd been at odds with her from the day she first stepped foot in camp.

Still, I didn't approve of Zoe trying to recruit Bianca. She would have to cut off almost all contact with her brother. And it was obvious to anyone who looked, that Nico's world was centred on his elder sister. But she, in turn, seemed to resent him for needing her to look after him. I wondered if it had ever occurred to her that she didn't  _have_  to look after him. She could just be his sister.

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favour to me?"

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armour ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff while the Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp.

Zoe gave Thalia and I one more evil look, then left to oversee things.

As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… Argh!"

I didn't answer. Something glinting in the snow had caught my eye. When I bent to pick it up, I heard Thalia's breath catch in her throat, and tears blurred my vision. It was Ana's bracelet, the dolphin that turned into her shield dented slightly.

Thalia didn't say another word. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off, leaving me alone with a damaged bracelet in the snow.

The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid, same as the last time we had crossed paths, but I decided I would stick close to the tents anyway. Falcons watched us from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight, and I suspected that they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess' will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire.

Almost… except for the pain in my shoulder and the guilt weighing me down. I couldn't believe Ana was gone. And all that I could think was that it was my fault. If I hadn't lost my balance and been knocked over, I could have stopped Thorn from grabbing her. I thought about how tired she had looked, when we'd danced together for half a song, and my heart felt even heavier.

She had been tired for over a year now. Ever since her claiming, she hadn't gotten a proper rest. Only one thing after another, as everything watched and judged her in case she was the prophecy child.

I watched Thalia pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. Of course, they were only trained to hate monsters and men. Not maidens. She stopped and looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. I wondered what she was thinking.

Seven years ago, Thalia had been turned into a pine tree by her father, to prevent her from dying. She'd stood her ground against an army of monsters on top of Half-Blood Hill in order to give me time to get to safety with Annabeth and Grover. She had only been back as a human for a few months now, and once in a while she would stand so still that you would think she was still a tree.

Finally, one of the Hunters brought me my backpack. Grover and Nico came back from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up my wounded arm.

"It's green!" Nico announced with delight.

"Hold still," Grover told me. "Here, eat some ambrosia while I clean that out."

I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia square helped. It tasted like the homemade blueberry brownies Ana made, dissolving in my mouth and sending a bittersweet feeling of warmth through my body. Between that and the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better within a couple of minutes.

Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had packed for him. He laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow—little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. I recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot. They were surprisingly accurate representations of the gods back in the Ancient days.

"Big collection," I said.

Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game a long time?"

"Just this year. Before that…" He knit his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't remember. That's weird." He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

I showed him my sword, Halcyon, (named for Halcyon Green, though only Thalia and Ana knew about that), and explained that I was one of the sword instructors at camp. Thinking about Ana and I sharing classes only made my mood plunge again, though.

"Cool! Why isn't it magic like the girls' weapons though?"

"It just isn't. My shoes can fly, though."

"Awesome! Can I see?"

After I showed him my shoes, he continued with his grilling.

"Are you really the son of Hermes?"

"Yes."

"Wicked! Can you control the post, then?"

"Uh, I dunno," I shifted. "I've never tried, uh, controlling post." When I glanced at Grover, he was trying hard not to laugh.

He went on asking questions. Was Thalia argumentative, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (I didn't answer that one.) If Ana had so much experience, why hadn't she known better than to fall off a cliff? (I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Was Ana my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavoured sack and throw him to the wolves.)

I figured any second he was going to ask me how many hit points I had, and I'd lose my cool completely, but then Zoe Nightshade came up to us.

"Luke Castellan." She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch. To a Hunter, who so loathed males, I guessed that she would prefer the laundry.

"Come with me," she ordered me. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."

Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Bianca di Angelo was seated next to Artemis, who was cross-legged on the ground.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the centre, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its' head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.

"Join us, Luke Castellan," the goddess said. I wished that she wouldn't use my full name. Only people wanting to kill me used my full name, and I didn't fancy my chances against a goddess. Ana or Thalia's chances? I'd bet on them any day.  _My_  chances? I'm not  _that_  cocky, no matter what the girls say.

I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. Gods looking at you like you were a science project had to be a health hazard, right?

Zoe sat down at Artemis's right. She glared at me like I'd invented the horrendous idea of being a guy. Personally, I'm firmly of the opinion that women are badass. I mean, my best friends are the most powerful girls alive! I'd never be stupid or suicidal enough to cross them, thanks very much.

"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you," Artemis said. "As you know, it is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…" She looked at Zoe. "Which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoe said. "You turned him into a jackalope."

"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied. "I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Luke, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca has reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you."

And so I told her.

When I was done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. "I feared this was the answer."

Zoe sat forward. "The scent, my lady?"

"Yes."

"What scent?" I asked.

"Things are stirring that I have not hunted in millennia," Artemis murmured. "Prey so old I had nearly forgotten."

She stared at me intently. "We came here tonight sensing the manticore, but he was not the one I seek. Tell me again, exactly what Doctor Thorn said."

"He said somebody called the General was going to explain things to me."

Zoe's face paled. She turned to Artemis and started to say something, but Artemis raised her hand.

"Go on, Luke," the goddess said.

"Well, then Thorn was talking about something that he called the 'Great Stirring', and he said, 'Soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus.'"

The goddess was so still she could've been a statue.

"Maybe he was lying," I suggested hopefully.

Artemis shook her head. "No. He was not. I've been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster."

Zoe looked like she was trying very hard not to be afraid, but she nodded. "We will leave right away, my lady."

"No, Zoe. I must do this alone."

"But, Artemis—"

"This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me."

"As… as you wish, my lady."

"I will find this creature," Artemis vowed. "And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."

"You know what the monster is?" I asked.

Artemis gripped her bow. "Let us pray I am wrong."

"Can goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that. I bet Ana would be curious too.

A flicker of a smile played across Artemis's lips. "Before I go, Luke Castellan, I have a small task for you."

"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"

"Sadly, no. I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return."

"What?" Zoe blurted out. And believe you me, I felt just as dismayed as her at the prospect of the Hunters being at Camp Half-Blood. "But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there—"

"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."

Zoe muttered something about foolish campers.

"And now there is one last decision to make." Artemis turned to Bianca. "Have you made up your mind, my girl?"

Bianca hesitated. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Wait," I said, though I knew already. Surely she wasn't actually going to abandon her brother who adored her, though? Who did that? "Thinking about what?"

"They… they've invited me to join the Hunt."

"But you can't! What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter."

"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."

I bit back my instinctive defence of my gender, reminding myself that _I_  considered not being turned into a jackelope to be a _good_  thing.

"You can see him from time to time," Artemis assured Bianca. "But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counsellors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us."

"A new family," Bianca repeated dreamily. "Free of responsibility."

I was disgusted by her, but I said nothing more, as I could tell she wouldn't be dissuaded. Nico might be annoying, but he was just a kid. He'd need a lot of support from my cabin to help him get over this betrayal. I hoped that he'd be claimed quickly, so we didn't have to add parental abandonment issues on top of sisterly ones. Gods, what kind of person was she?

She looked at Zoe. "Is it worth it?"

Zoe nodded. "It is."

"What do I have to do?"

"Say this," Zoe told her, " 'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.'"

"I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

Bianca repeated the lines. "That's it?"

Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept it," Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. Bianca looked no different, but she took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. "I feel… stronger."

"Welcome, sister," Zoe smiled. It was a strange sight, definitely.

"Remember your pledge," Artemis said. "It is now your life."

I couldn't speak. I felt like a trespasser. And a complete failure. I couldn't believe we'd come all this way and Ana had sacrificed herself, only to lose Bianca to an eternal girls' club.

"Do not despair, Luke Castellan," Artemis said. "You will still get to show the di'Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there."

"Great," I said, trying not to sound surly and annoy the goddess. "How are we supposed to get there?"

Artemis closed her eyes. "Dawn is approaching. Zoe, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother."

Zoe didn't look very happy about this idea, but she nodded and told Bianca to follow her. As she was leaving, Bianca paused in front of me.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she murmured. "But I want this. I really, really do."

You want to abandon your brother? I thought. Then she was gone, and I was left alone with the twelve-year-old goddess.

"So," I said glumly. "We're going to get a ride from your brother, huh?"

Artemis's silver eyes gleamed. "Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di'Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo."


	4. Driver's Ed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia torches New England.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HOO. Thanks to everyone who pointed out the mix-up in names. I have the book open when I'm writing, so some mistakes are inevitable, of course. I fixed it as soon as I got the first reviews about it, or at least I tried. If it didn't work, please tell me and I'll try again.**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Thalia Fails Driver's Ed**

Artemis assured us that dawn was coming, but you could have fooled me. It was colder and darker and snowier than ever. Up on the hill, Westover Hall's windows were completely dark. I wondered if the teachers had even noticed the di'Angelos and Doctor Thorn were missing yet. I didn't want to be around when they did. The way this day was going, the only name Mrs. Gottschalk would be able to remember would be "Luke Castellan," and then I'd be the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. I stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who didn't seem to feel at all uncomfortable), and Artemis stared into the east expectantly. Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. I could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt. I couldn't help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her little brother like that. None of my siblings were full siblings, but I still couldn't imagine just leaving them behind without a thought of how they'd cope without me. Or worse, just plain not caring about how they'd manage.

Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around me, anxious to hear what had happened in my audience with the goddess.

When I told them, Grover turned pale. "The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."

I grimaced. It had been several years before my arrival and there was no one at camp left from that time by, but I'd heard the stories from some of the campers when I was younger. It really hadn't been pleasant, by the sounds of it.

"How'd they even show up here?" I wondered, changing the subject. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca  _joined_  them," Thalia said, disgusted. "It's all Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good—"

"Who can blame her?" Grover interrupted. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh, an awed expression on his lips. For a moment, it made me grin. Then I realized I was waiting to hear Ana make a sarcastic comment, and my expression fell again. Gods, I wished I knew if she was alright. Ana was an amazing fighter, and had a broader range than Thalia, but that'd do her no good if she wasn't beside a water source, and even the best fighters were defeated eventually.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs," she scoffed. "You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But she's so… into nature," Grover swooned.

"You're nuts," Thalia declared flatly.

"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."

Finally the sky began to lighten. "About time," Artemis muttered. "He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked.

"For my brother. Yes."

"Great," I mumbled. Two gods at once. That was just fantastic. As if the day wasn't bad enough, we had to add yet another Olympian to the mix. I wondered briefly how she expected Apollo to transport us all. Surely we weren't going to ride in the sun chariot, right?

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth.

"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."

I averted my eyes, and saw that the others were all doing the same. The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was melting off of me. Then suddenly the light died.

I looked. And I couldn't believe it. It was a red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was so awesome it glowed. I imagined Ana's scoffing about 'boys and their toys' as I realized that it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why I was now standing on green grass and my shoes were wet.

The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen with sandy hair, blue eyes and outdoorsy good looks. Tall enough, I guess, maybe four or five inches more than me. His smile was bright and playful, and he wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.

"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant," I grumbled back. I glared at the grass, wondering if Ana would think that Apollo was hot too. What sort of guy was Ana into anyway? She'd never mentioned. Not that I cared, of course. Ana was just like another sister to me, that was all. I was just concerned about her getting her heart broken, that was all.

"Little sister!" Apollo called, snapping me out of my thoughts on Ana. If his teeth were any whiter he could've blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your  _little_  sister."

"Hey, I was born first."

I frowned at that. Wasn't Artemis born like, a week before Apollo, then helped with his delivery? Was the story wrong? Unlikely. Chiron always gave us the correct versions so we had accurate information.

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—" Ah, so Apollo was provoking his sister. Okay.

"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?" He was either an arrogant idiot, or completely suicidal. Given the fact that he was a god, I'm gonna go with option A.

Artemis grit her teeth in annoyance. "I need a favour. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure thing, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

The Hunters all groaned. Apparently they had met Apollo before.

He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically.

"Green grass breaks through snow.

Artemis pleads for my help.

I am so cool."

He grinned at us, waiting for applause.

"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.

Apollo frowned. "Was it?"

"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself. I said a silent prayer of thanks to the universe in general that the cabin 7 kids didn't favour their father in attitude. If we had to deal with this on a regular basis, we'd have no medics left. Hades, I'd be first in line to gut them for annoying me.

Zoe Nightshade turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan a decade ago. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, 'There once was a goddess from Sparta—'"

"I've got it!" Apollo announced. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself. Was this seriously the god of knowledge? "And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo checked us out. "Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed, and I made a mental note to have her checked for a concussion when we got home. Only explanation for her suddenly acting like an actual girl instead of, you know, Thalia. Oh, I better not say any form of that aloud. She would make my death  _painful_ , and Ana would help. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus' girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—"

"Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."

"Oh, right." Then he looked at me, and gave another bright grin. "Luke Castellan?"

"Yeah. I mean… yes, sir."

It seemed weird calling a teenager "sir," but I'd knew it was important to be careful with immortals. They tended to get offended easily. Then they blew stuff up. Usually innocent bystanders unfortunate enough not to realize they needed to run as far away as they could.

"Ah, Hermes' son," he hummed, swaying back and forth on his feet. "Your dad's my favourite brother, you know."

I shifted uncomfortably without replying. Of all the ways people address me, calling me 'Hermes' son' is my least favourite.

Apollo frowned slightly at my silence, but then shrugged it off. "Well!" he said, as cheerful as ever. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

I looked at the Maserati, which would seat two people max. There were about twenty of us.

"Cool car," Nico complimented.

"Thanks, kid," Apollo replied.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…"

He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. Chirp, chirp.

For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those Turtle Top shuttle buses mortals used for school basketball games.

"Right," he said. "Everybody in."

Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo reached out, saying, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

Zoe recoiled from his touch. Her eyes flashed murderously and she rested a hand on the silver knife sheathed at her hip. I have to give her this, she's damn brave.

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do  _not_ call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands with an innocent look that wouldn't have fooled a three-year-old on his face. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"Hunting," Artemis answered curtly. "It's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all.  _Know_  all."

Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around."

Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

Zoe straightened. "Yes, my lady."

Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found."

She sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they'd be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me, but thankfully Nico didn't seem to mind. I guess everything hadn't fully hit him yet.

"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," Apollo said. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, having to get up so early all the time, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas in space!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumour probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? So boring.

You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"

Nico shook his head. "No."

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?"

"No. Too young."

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry." I shook my head when he glanced at me, concentrating on fiddling with Ana's dolphin bracelet and feeling sorry for myself again, so he looked past me and focused on Thalia. Alarm sprang up in me at that.

"Daughter of Zeus!" he clapped his hands happily. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo coaxed. "How old are you?"

Thalia hesitated. "I don't know."

It was depressing, but true. She'd been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. So she should be nineteen like me, if you went by years. But she said that she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly.

Apollo tapped his finger to his lips. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."

"How do you know that?"

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second."

"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!" It also possibly meant something a hellouva lot more important and worse, but no one else seemed about to point that out, so I didn't either.

Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh—"

"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honour like driving the sun chariot."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus' daughter. He's not going to blast  _you_ out of the sky."

Apollo laughed good-naturedly. No one else joined him.

Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was not going to take "no" for an answer. He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. I had to read it backward (which, for a dyslexic, really isn't that different than reading forward). I was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

"Take it away!" Apollo told Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural! Speed equals heat," he advised. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was going to be sick. I bit my lip, thinking of the secret she had shared with me. This wasn't going to go well.

"Let's go!" Apollo cheered.

Thalia swallowed, then pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast I fell back and crashed against something soft.

"Ow" Grover groaned.

"Sorry."

"Slower!" Apollo called.

"Sorry!" Thalia cried. "I've got it under control!"

I managed to get to my feet. Looking out the window, I saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where we'd taken off.

"Thalia," I said tensely, "you need to lighten up on the accelerator."

"I've got it, Luke," she snapped, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored.

"Loosen up," I told her urgently. I knew what the problem was, but I couldn't say anything about it here, where everyone would hear me and Thalia would be humiliated. Still, if she didn't calm down, we were screwed.

"I'm loose!" Thalia insisted. She was so stiff she looked like her spine was made out of a plank of plywood.

"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. He looked tense, and was gripping the back of a seat tightly to keep from falling. "Hang a left."

Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped.

"The other left," Apollo suggested.

I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now—so high the sky was starting to look black. Not good.

"Ah…" Apollo muttered, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."

Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat. I'd never seen her so afraid, and I was seriously tempted to curse Apollo to the depths of Tartarus for putting her in this position. Even if he didn't know the truth about Thalia's acrophobia, he shouldn't have pushed her into driving when she didn't want to. Damn the gods and their arrogance.

The bus pitched down and somebody screamed. Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus.

Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.

"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him.

"No worries," Apollo said dismissively. He looked plenty worried. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"

I saw what he was seeing. Down below us was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As I watched, the snow melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and started to smoulder. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.

"Pull up!" I yelled.

There was a wild light in Thalia's eyes. She yanked back on the wheel, and I held on this time. As we zoomed up, I could see through the back window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.

"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

Thalia was thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. I could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheatre.

"I'm under control," Thalia muttered. "I'm under control."

We were only a few hundred yards away now.

"Brake," Apollo said.

"I can do this."

"BRAKE!"

Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge FLOOOOOOSH! Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.

The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes. I winced, picturing Ana's reaction to her precious lake being damaged and prayed none of the fish or naiads were hurt. Otherwise when we got her back, she would totally flip. And we would get her back. We had to.

"Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"


	5. Disastrous Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke dreams of Ana.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Enjoy, and thanks for all the reviews, kudoses, etc. Greek words are: bitch, damn you to Tartarus, and damn you. (Ana has a very salty mouth, because honestly, in her situation, who wouldn't?)**

**Chapter Five**

**A Dream of Disaster and Betrayal**

It was a struggle to swim out of the lake. I was a bad swimmer at the best of times, and currently the water was rough and dark. I guess no one needed to tell Poseidon what had happened to his daughter. Eventually though, with help from the naiads, we were all out of the lake and standing on the beach.

Camp Half-Blood is always beautiful, but Ana said last year that she thought it was almost magical in the winter. It's protected by weather wards, so nothing gets inside the borders unless Mr. D wants it to. Typically, it's all warm and sunny, but during winter the snow is allowed to fall lightly.

Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they were real balls of fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and, (I always find this a little bit creepy) a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body.

Ana had wondered once if the spirit of Delphi roasted marshmallows up there or something. The thought had freaked both of us out, and we had mutually decided not to think about it ever again. My heart hurt as I remembered Ana's delight last winter. It hadn't started to snow last time she left.

"Whoa," Nico was wide-eyed with amazement as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoe—"

"Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight," Zoe cut me off curtly. "Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking (maybe the empathy link gave him Ana's ability to breathe under water?)—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away. I felt a jab of contempt for her. Bianca had chosen the selfish path, and I had little to no patience for that type of person. Ana would never choose herself or someone else and it seemed like a terrible trade, her for Bianca.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at me. "See you soon, Luke."

My eyes widened, but in alarm, not pleasure. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

Nico was still looking grumpy. I wondered what his sister had told him.

"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," I said. "He's… well, you'll see."

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

The thing I always found strangest about camp in the winter was how empty it was. I mean, most half-bloods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't even seem to be many of them, either.

Ana herself was technically a year-rounder, but she tended to get restless if forced to stay in one place more than a few weeks. As a child, it had resulted in her dividing her time between seventeen different foster homes and the streets in about four years (her mother died when she was eight, and then she came to camp at twelve). Now it meant that she wandered in and out of camp and her mom's old beach house on Montauk as she pleased. What would happen to Ana's beloved cabin with the sandy bedsheets if we didn't find her? I didn't think that I could bear to step foot in it again. Not without her.

I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armoury. The only full siblings in camp, my brothers Travis and Connor Stoll (and yes, everyone makes the Stoll/stole joke), were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Truthfully, it was a relief. The less people around, the less hearts I had to break when I revealed Ana's fate. She was friendly with everyone, even Athena's children (Ana had no interest in playing out her father's feuds), but she had a particular group of close friends, and I was dreading telling them what had happened.

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but nothing caught on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlour.

Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.

He smiled when he saw us. "Luke! Thalia! Ah, and this must be—"

"Nico di'Angelo," I introduced, waving at the small boy, who was getting excited all over again. "He and his sister are half-bloods."

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."

"Well…"

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Ana?"

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

I clenched my fist in reflexive anger at his callous words. I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life. I sometimes seriously doubted whether or not he had ever actually been a demigod. He certainly didn't care about us, anyway. In fact, I think he cares even less about half-bloods than the gods who were born immortal do.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked sharply. "Who else is lost?"

I frowned, wondering if someone else had gone off to join the Titans. Only a few had, mainly due to Ana regularly reminding everyone that there would be no demigods without gods, but some still hated our godly parents enough to choose half-blood extinction in exchange for revenge. Truthfully, I didn't really blame them. I'm honest enough to admit that it's my love for my siblings, friends, and Chiron that keep me from joining the Titans. Not my 'loyalty' to the gods.

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!" I shoved down a flare of fury that he was so cheerful when Ana was missing. How could he? She was supposed to be his best friend! When he had gone missing last summer, Ana had been out of her mind with worry, not flirting with people who didn't give half a damn about her!

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

"But… Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico repeated. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"

"It's PG-13," Grover told him.

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

"Now," Chiron said to Thalia and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Ana right away."

"I'll go," Thalia and I declared at the same time.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Thalia and I both started protesting, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Amy—"

"Ana," I snapped. She'd gone to camp for over a year now, saved the world and camp itself, and still Mr. D pretended not to know her name.

"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Abby girl is dead."

I wanted to strangle Mr. D. It wasn't fair Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Mr. D's bad behaviour on Olympus, but it ended up being a punishment for all of us. And how dare he claim that Nico could replace Ana? She was Anaea Jackson, the only mortal daughter of Poseidon in recorded history, and a candidate for the Great Prophecy! She was my Ariel. Ana was irreplaceable, completely unique. No one could ever take her place. Ever.

"Ana may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He'd doted on Ana since she first stepped foot in Camp Half-Blood. Maybe even since he met her in Yancy Academy. Ana herself considered him the closest thing she had to a parent. This had to be difficult on her. "She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will do her best to stay alive until she can escape. And they won't be quick to, to kill her."

"That's right," Thalia agreed. "She might be the Prophecy Child. Annabeth and Ethan would want her alive, to try and use her."

"In which case," said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

I got up from the table.

"Luke." Chiron's tone was full of warning. I was about to ignore him and tell Dionysus just what I thought of him, but I was interrupted when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're a centaur!"

Chiron managed a strained smile. "Yes, Mr. Di'Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr. D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of pure loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which is a memory I will savour for years. "Well, that's… gratifying."

"Luke," Chiron said quickly, taking advantage of Mr. D's distraction. "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

"Capture the flag?" I blinked. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron explained. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters come for a visit."

"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."

Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defence points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us in a pointed tone of voice.

"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, Luke."

She hauled me out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that he wanted to kill me.

"What were you thinking, Luke?" Thalia huffed at me as we trudged toward the cabins. "You're not Ana or me. You've got no protection against immortal enemies, remember?"

She was right. With them being the only (known, considering the facts, I doubted the gods bothered to keep their oaths at all, River Styx or not) children of the Big Three, no god dared to outright kill them, even if we all doubted their fathers would actually care. Not to mention the whole Prophecy thing. But my father had dozens of kids at the moment. He probably didn't even remember me, let alone my poor, insane mother. I had no safeguards against enraged gods killing me for insulting them somehow.

"Sorry," I sighed. "I know. It's just..." I trailed off, my gaze going to Ana's cabin, where she slept alone (save for my regular visits to her bedroom for cuddles whenever one of us had a nightmare. Would I ever curl up in her purple duvet (she had hated the under water colour scheme, always resenting being forced into a stereotype) again?

She stopped by the armoury and looked out across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill. Her pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used Thalia's spirit for power.

"Life's not fair, Luke, you know that" Thalia muttered. "Sometimes I wish…"

She didn't finish, but her tone was so sad it broke my heart. Thalia was like my favourite sister, and it broke my heart whenever I caught a glimpse her heartbreak. With her ragged black hair and her black punk clothes, an old wool overcoat wrapped around her, she looked like some kind of huge raven, completely out of place in the white landscape.

"We'll get Ana back," I promised. "I just don't know how yet, but I won't lose her as well."

"First I found out that Annabeth is lost," she said. "Now Ana— She's the only one who  _gets_  it-"

Translation: Ana was the only one who knew how to felt to be cursed because her father broke an unbreakable oath, and the fear of knowing you could be the one to destroy the world, and everything in it. As much as I tried, I knew that I would never fully understand what that felt like. It would be an insult to them both if I pretended that I could.

"We're gonna get her back," I insisted hoarsely. "It's Ana. She'll make it through this. She's tough. Hades, she'll live just to spite everybody who thought she wouldn't be able to."

"You're right." She straightened up, a hint of a smirk lifting her lips the slightest amount. "We'll find a way to get her back."

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.

"I'll break that up," Thalia said, gesturing towards them. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."

"All right. You should be team captain."

"No, no," she said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."

"We'll co-captain," I compromised.

She gave a swift nod of assent before she trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter had started trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.

The cabins were the weirdest collection of buildings you've ever seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabins One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth. Ana hung out there a lot, chatting with Hestia apparently. Hestia was the only god or goddess Ana had ever shown admiration for, and I mentally promised to give her some of my dinner, the way Ana usually did.

I made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. I woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at me to go away. I bit my lip as I realized who the other missing demigod was. Clarisse had gone on a mission for Chiron, and just a few days ago Ana had mentioned over IM that she was beginning to get worried about her, seeing as there'd been no word for a while. I asked about Clarisse, but he said he didn't know. After he threatened to make me go MIA as well, I decided to let him go back to sleep.

Finally I arrived at Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. Ana's home. It was a low grey building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. I stared at it for a moment, before entering on impulse.

Ana had hung a curtain up around the area surrounding her bed, giving herself a bit of privacy and making it feel smaller and less empty. I slipped behind it, sat on her bed, and just stared around dully.

Her duvet was purple, with gold trimming, and a matching pillowcase. The walls were covered with various posters and a floor-length mirror to disguise the stone wall. She had an oak bedframe and matching desk, shelves, bedside table and drawer. It was tidy enough, with the bedside table cluttered with photos, various knickknacks and CDs on the shelves, a camp t-shirt dangling out of the half-open drawer. Her first spoil of war, the Minotaur's horn, hung on a hook beside the back door that led to the beach. The desk had some stuff on it too, but she had tidied it well-enough before going back to Montauk, so it wasn't as bad as usual.

I took Ana's bracelet out of my pocket, and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiralled out. Doctor Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that Tyson had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of Ana and I fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in Ana's head. I shuddered and hung the shield on its' hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now. Ana would be devastated if she saw that. Maybe Beckendorf could fix it for me, so I could give it back to her when I got her to back. He was the best armoursmith in the camp. I'd ask him at dinner. He would understand the urgency of getting it fixed quickly, so Ana wouldn't be as upset when she came home. Which she would.

I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound—water gurgling—and I realized there was something new in the room. I stood and pulled open the curtain, staring in surprise at the back of the cabin. Against the stone wall was a big basin of grey sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its' mouth burst a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.

I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon to his daughter. Times like this, I got the odd feeling that Poseidon might actually care about her. Not that I'd ever say that to her, though. Ana coped by convincing herself that she and Poseidon shared a love of the sea, and that was their sole link. She wouldn't be able to deal with the thought of him caring. Not after everything she had been through.

I looked into the water. "On Ana's behalf, thank you, my lord."

The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered—a dozen or so golden drachma. I realized what the fountain was for. It was for Ana to keep in touch with the people she loved. And I needed to make a call.

I opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. I could see the ocean churning unhappily at the beach, reflecting Poseidon's anger. Then I fished a coin out of the hot water.

"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," I muttered, "accept my offering."

I tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared. "Show me Tyson," I requested. "At the forges of the Cyclopes."

The mist shimmered, and the image of Ana's half-brother appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean. As far as I could see, Poseidon's wrath was not disturbing the depths, only the surface of the water.

"Tyson!" I yelled.

He didn't hear me at first because of the hammering and the roar of the flames.

"TYSON!"

He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Luke!"

He dropped the sword blade and ran at me, trying to give me a hug. The vision blurred and I instinctively lurched back. "Tyson, it's an Iris-message. I'm not really here." It still amazed me that he seemed to like me so much, after I'd been so cold to him originally. Then again, he was a bit like a brain damaged child, so he probably hadn't even realized that I'd disliked him.

"Oh." He came back into view, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."

"How are you?" I asked, trying to delay the inevitable conversation that had triggered my call. "How's the job?"

His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. "I made this!"

"That's really cool."

"I wrote my name on it. Right there."

"Awesome. So you're having fun then."

Tyson's smile faded. "Some. But I don't see Daddy much. He is busy. He is worried about the war."

"What do you mean?" If one of the Big Three was worried, that didn't spell good things for our future.

Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."

I recognized the gods he was talking about. He meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good.

Tyson shook his head sadly as he continued. "We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the bad boat."

"The  _Princess Andromeda_?" I established. "Ethan's boat?" Easier to think of Ethan as an enemy then Annabeth.

"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would smash it."

"Smashing it would be good."

Tyson perked up, as if he'd just had another thought. "Sissy! Is she there?"

"Oh, well…" My heart fell and I knew that I couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer. Tyson adored his sister, who'd acted as best friend, mother and protective elder sister to him for months. But when I opened my mouth to say what had happened, I couldn't bring myself to shatter his cheerful innocence. Ana wouldn't want me to, either. "Well, no… she's not here right now. She just asked me to call and check up on you for her, because she won't be able to for a while."

"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello and I love her to Sissy!"

"Okay." I fought back a lump in my throat. "I'll do that. She loves you too."

He beamed and nodded confidently at that. "And, Luke, tell Ana not to worry about the bad boat. It is going away."

"What do you mean?"

"Panama Canal! Very far away."

I frowned. Why would Annabeth and Ethan take their demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen them, they'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training their monstrous army.

"All right," I said, not feeling reassured. "That's… good. I guess."

In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched. "Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Luke! Remember to tell Sissy I love her."

"Of course," I choked out as the vision shimmered and faded. I was alone again in Ana's cabin, feeling even worse than before.

I was pretty miserable at dinner that night.

I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. usually it would be more Greek and healthier, but Chiron got lax during the winter for some reason. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates, which meant I was sitting between Travis and Lou Ellen, a daughter of Hecate. Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table, but I couldn't sit with her. Camp rules. Nico sat between Travis and Connor. The two were trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose.

The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoe sat at the head like she was the matriarch. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did give a small smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. Bianca di'Angelo seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind. After being reminded of Ana and Tyson's closeness, despite everything that separated them, my contempt for how easily she had abandoned her brother only grew.

When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty half-hearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.

Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early lights out. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, and even by half-blood standards it was a whopper.

Ana was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.

She struggled up the hill, her sword raised in a guard position and giving out a faint bit of light for guidance as she scanned her surroundings. Blood coated her left arm, and I realized that one of Thorn's spikes had pierced her at some point. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums, and every so often she used them for support, shuddering each time like it was poisonous or something.

"Thorn!" Ana cried, anger covering the fear I could make out in her beautiful sea-coloured eyes. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped, tensing.

There was Annabeth. And she was in pain.

She was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around her, fog swirling hungrily. Her clothes were in tatters and her face was scratched and drenched with sweat, I couldn't see what was wrong with her. She seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog itself was squeezing her to death. Any feelings of anger I felt towards her disappeared, and all I think was that I needed to help her.

Ana was not me, however, and her expression was cold as she reluctantly made her way to stand a few feet away from the other girl. "What happened to you?" she demanded icily.

Annabeth seemed to be trying to glare back at her, but she was too exhausted and weak to manage it.

"Wasn' supposed to be you," she mumbled.

"Too bad," Ana sneered. "What happened?"

"You need to take this from me, or I'll die," Annabeth replied, still not answering. I shuddered, feeling torn. On one hand, it was Annabeth, the little girl I had raised and sworn to protect. On the other, I didn't want Ana to take her place either.

"I'm okay with that," Ana replied honestly.

Annabeth somehow managed to glare at her, though she was trembling so badly it wasn't remotely frightening. Not that Ana had ever been intimidated by Annabeth before, anyway.

"Do you care about the 884,363 mortals who live in that city over there?" she gasped out. Ana went pale.

"You're lying," she whispered, but both Annabeth and I could read the worry and doubt in her face as she spoke. My heart grew heavy with anticipatory dread.

Annabeth gave a weak smirk. "I swear on the River Styx that I'm not," she replied. "I die, so does everyone within the surrounding couple of thousand yards."

"You rotten σκύλα," Ana snapped bitterly. I shook my head desperately as I watched her glance away, towards the city, obscured from our vision by the thick fog.

"Don't do it," I begged softly, though they obviously couldn't hear me. I didn't know if I was begging Ana not to give in to Annabeth's manipulations, or begging Annabeth to stop her treason. "Please don't do this."

Ana scowled and returned her sword to its' hairpin form and slipping it into her hair. "βλάκα σε Tartarus," she spat as she clenched her fists, not moving.

Then the darkness above Annabeth began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Ana rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Annabeth just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that. Ana's strength was in her abilities, not in pure brawn.

Annabeth rolled free, gasping with a horrible smirk on her face. I couldn't reconcile this monster with the little girl who I had loved as my baby sister. "Thanks," she chuckled darkly, making me recoil in pained anger.

"Πανάθεμά σε," Ana groaned. "Whatever you want, you won't get it."

Annabeth caught her breath. Her face was covered in grime and sweat. She rose unsteadily to her feet, and I noticed the knife I had given her dangling from her waist. I wanted to rip it away. I hated her. I hadn't really hated her before, even though I had pretended to, but now I genuinely despised her for everything she had done. Hadn't poisoning Thalia's tree been enough?

"You're so predictable, Ana. And, actually, I will. She's predictable as well." She began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Ana underneath it. Already, she was drenched in sweat and struggling to hold the weight up, gasping in pain.

"Oh, don't worry," Annabeth added. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Ana flat against the ground.

I sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in my cabin except for the occasional snores from my year-round roommates. The glow-in-the-dark clock on the wall read just after midnight.

It was only a dream, but I knew it was a demigod vison, and now I was sure of two things: First of all, Ana was even worse danger than I'd thought. And two, Annabeth was the one responsible for it.


	6. Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Oracle exits the attic for the first time since World War II.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Glad everyone's enjoying it. I hope everyone's pleased with how I did Ana taking the sky.**

**Chapter Six**

**The Deathly Prophecy**

The next morning after breakfast, I told Grover about my dream. We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor, idiot satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.

When I told Grover my nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur anxiously.

"I can't contact her at all," he admitted. "I've tried, but.." He trailed off.

"Nothing? Do you feel anything at all?"

Grover shrugged helplessly. "Nothing. Where ever she's being held is blocked from me somehow. But after what Zoe dreamed—"

"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream? A demigod one?" I hadn't thought that Zoe was a half-blood. Actually, I had no clue what she was.

"I… I don't know, exactly," Grover stammered. There were dark circles under his eyes, and I felt a stab of guilt. As much as it felt like I was the only one concerned for Ana, I knew that wasn't true. She was very loved

"About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron," Grover explained. "She looked really panicked."

I paused as a thought occurred to me. "Wait, how do you know this?"

Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."

I stared at him in disbelief. Whether at his actions themselves or the fact that he hadn't been killed for them yet, I'm not sure. "What for?"

"Just to be, you know, near them."

"You're a stalker with hooves."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are. When we get her back, I'm telling Ana, and she's gonna kill you."

"I am not a stalker! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."

I tried to imagine that. Argus was the head of security for camp—a big blonde dude with eyes all over his body with legendary skills. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. I wouldn't want to place bets on a fight between him and Zoe Nightshade.

"What did she say?" I asked, returning to the important part of the story.

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—"

"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble? She's a goddess!"

"I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and—"

"He wears curlers in his tail?" Gods, I wished I could have seen that.

Grover covered his mouth looking guilty. My mental Ana scolded me for gossiping about Chiron and priorities.

"Sorry," I said. "Go on. What happened then?"

"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…" Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

"Shit." That was all I could say or think. The goddess of the hunt and a Great Prophecy candidate had both been taken captive! We were in so much trouble, I could barely breathe. Ana's face, twisted in agony as she struggled to hold up the cavern ceiling, flashed in my mind.

"Surely they aren't powerful enough to capture an Olympian already," I breathed desperately. It was a horrific prospect, especially when taking into account the fact that the Council wasn't even openly acknowledging that we were at war, or that Kronos was reforming.

"I think that somebody would know if Kronos had finished reforming," Grover pointed out cautiously. "The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like—"

"They're connected," I finished. I would have been shocked if they weren't.

Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran toward her. Pop! She turned into a Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed, and the satyr toppled over onto his back in surprise at the abrupt impact.

"Ah, love," Grover said dreamily.

I thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after mine, and came to a grim decision. And possibly a suicidal one, too. "I've got to talk to Zoe," I announced.

"Um, before you do…" Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said—about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think that they might've been scouting us."

"Scouting us? What do you mean?"

He gave me the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows, running with wolves. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! and A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!

"I found that in Ana's backpack," Grover told.

I stared at him blankly, refusing to understand the implications of what he was staying. Surely, Grover meant something else.

"I don't understand."

"Well, it seems to me… maybe Ana was thinking about joining."

I'd like to say I took the news well. Truthfully, I didn't. I found an empty spot, set up some feminine-shaped automatons, and spent the rest of the day hacking the dummies to pieces while arguing with myself whether or not Ana would ever join the Hunters.

I remembered the admiration in Ana's voice the few times the Hunters had come up in conversation between us. She admired them, their strength and independence, and Artemis was one of the few immortals Ana considered worth a second thought. And, if she were frozen at fourteen, she would be relieved of her fear of turning sixteen.

But she also hated the thought of immortality fiercely. Would loath giving up her friends for the rest of eternity. It just wasn't in her. And the Hunters all hated men. Ana didn't. She wasn't the type of person to judge everyone because of the actions of a few. If she joined the Hunters, their collective bitterness towards males would destroy her, I just knew it.

That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at capture the flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di'Angelo, and about the same number of campers.

Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armour. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess that Zoe had told them about her nightmare.

On our team, we had Beckendorf and two of his brothers, Jake and Isaac, Ellis, Jason and Sherman from the Ares cabin, the Stolls, Nico and I from Hermes cabin, and Silena, Laurel and Mitchell from the Aphrodite.

"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena grumbled angrily as she strapped on her armour. She and her siblings had been raring for blood since the Hunters had arrived. Frankly, I was feeling kind of terrified of them right now. Who knew what Silena was planning on doing with that nail scissors? "I'll pulverize them!"

That left Thalia and me.

"I'll take the offense," Thalia volunteered. "You take defence."

"Oh." I hesitated, because I'd been about to say the exact same thing, only reversed. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defence?" I loved Thalia, and we rarely argued. But I wanted those damn girls to pay. If they hadn't interfered, Thorn would never have taken Ana.

Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa. I hated the shield, but not because of the image itself (though I didn't like that either, trust me.) No, my problem was the memories it invoked. Hal Green and Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium were not fond recollections.

"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense," Thalia replied. Our eyes met, and we had a silent conversation. I lost.

I slumped in resignation. "Yeah, no problem," I lied.

"Cool." Thalia turned to help Laurel, who's long red ( _it's_ _ **auburn**_ _, Luke_ , Mental Ana corrected me snarkily) hair had gotten stuck in her breastplate. Nico came running up to me with a big grin on his face.

"Luke, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. Everyone always looked so ridiculous when they first arrived. He'd look less like a toddler playing dress up once he finally copped on to the fact that this was real life, not his game where the only thing that got hurt if you lost was the player's pride.

Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

I eyed him warily. "Well… no." Not that the small boy would be able to kill anybody for a while. That sword definitely wasn't the right fit for him.

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides—"

"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"

"Nico, this is serious," I cut him off. "These are real swords. They can hurt."

He stared at me, looking disappointed at my words, but I couldn't bring myself to regret what I'd said. He had touched on a sore point for pretty much everybody in camp. Monsters were reborn, centuries, decades, even weeks after being defeated. But demigods? Elysium was the only way that'd happen, and if you chose rebirth, you still wouldn't see the people you loved again. Nico was a nice kid, but at the moment, all I wished was for him to grow up and realize this wasn't a game, it was real life, and people didn't come back after being killed.

I patted Nico on the shoulder, trying to summon up some of my cheer. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."

Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

"Sweet," Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"

I was about to explain that he didn't, they tended to be spoils of war or parental gifts, when I heard Thalia calling, "Blue team! Follow me!"

They cheered and followed, as I hastened to catch up to her and we led the way to our pre-chosen spot.

We set our flag at the top of Zeus' Fist. It was deep into the western section of the woods, in an easily defensible clearing. Given its' location, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.

I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stolls, figuring he'd be safely out of the way, while still feeling included.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."

Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.

Thalia looked at me. "Anything to add, Luke?"

I nodded, falling into the role of leader with ease, though I had been acting as second-in-command since Ana came to camp. "Yeah. Keep sharp on defence. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest, and this sort of terrain is the Hunters' territory. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post!" Thalia added.

"Exactly."

Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.

Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.

I waited for something to happen. I flew up to the top of Zeus' Fist and gained a good view over the forest.

I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for a huge charge that could overwhelm us, as well as a subtle ambush that utilized their talents of camouflage. But nothing happened. It freaked me out, and the urge to go and find out what was happening poked at me.

I caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts. They ran through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then I spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready. They must've spotted Thalia.

"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.

My mind was racing. Thalia would never get through, but the Hunters were divided. With that many on either flank, their centre had to be wide open. I had my shoes, and if I moved fast…

I looked at Beckendorf. "Can you guys hold the fort?"

Beckendorf snorted. "Of course."

"I'm going in," I announced. "Maia!"

The Stoll brothers and Nico cheered as I raced toward the boundary line.

I was flying at top speed and it felt great. I sped over the creek into enemy territory. I could see their silver flag up ahead, only one guard, who wasn't even looking in my direction. I heard fighting to my left and right, somewhere in the woods. I was so close to winning I could almost taste it.

The guard turned at the last minute. It was Bianca di'Angelo. Her eyes widened as I slammed into her and she went sprawling in the snow.

Without giving her a chance to react, I ripped down the silver silk flag from the tree and took off again.

I was ten yards away before Bianca managed to yell for help. Her attempt at shooting me down missed by a mile. She was not a natural archer, and had no practice, despite Artemis' blessing.

Then. ZIP. I flew into a silvery cord that was fastened to a pair of trees. Before I could do anything, I went down hard, sprawling in the snow. One of my wings was bent, unable to hold my weight anymore until I could fix it.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled, off to my left.

Before she could reach me or say anything else, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed out around her team. They all started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods—the horrible smell of sulfur. I cursed and covered my nose as I realized what the hunters had done.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

I got up and started running again. Only a few more yards to the creek and I had the game. More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.

I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought at first that they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone—Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.

"No!" I yelled, and poured on the speed.

I was two feet from the water when Zoe bolted across to her own side, slamming into me for good measure. The Hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking grim. He had the Stolls on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae. Seeing the shape they were in, as well as losing, only inflamed my anger towards the Hunters.

"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced without pleasure. Then he muttered, "For the fifty-sixth time in a row."

"Lucas Castellan!" Thalia yelled, storming toward me. She smelled like rotten eggs, and she was so mad that blue sparks flickered on her armour. Everybody, even the Hunters, cringed and backed up at the sight of Aegis. It took all my willpower and experience with angry daughters of the Big Three not to cower.

"What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?" she bellowed.

I balled my fists. I'd had enough bad stuff happen to me for one day. I didn't need this. I loved Thalia, but I just couldn't deal with her. Not today. "I got the flag, Thalia!" I shook it in her face. "I saw a chance and I took it!"

"Gods Luke! You know if you could control yourself, Ana would still be here!"

A horrified ripple went through the crowd. I recoiled, feeling sick. Her words repeated themselves in my mind even as her furious expression crumpled into guilt. " _if you could control yourself, Ana would still be here!"_

"Luke," she began, reaching out to me imploringly. "I didn't-, I'm so sorry-"

I don't know how, but somehow I ended up punching her. She cried out, and automatically went to defend herself. We scuffled briefly before several others separated us.

"Look!" Silena cried suddenly, pointing behind Thalia, who was being restrained by Chiron and a Huntress I didn't recognize. I stopped my attempts to get free, staring in shock at the sight.

Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped in recognition.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous, and it made the whole situation seem even worse than it was already. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle continued to shuffle forward until she stood in the centre of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several people put their hands over their ears to cover them.

_I am the spirit of Delphi,_  the voice said. _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python._

The Oracle regarded me with its' cold, dead eyes. Then she spoke again _. Approach, Seeker, and ask._

I swallowed. "What do I do to save Ana and Lady Artemis?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and two girls standing at the barren peak. Ana was, like yesterday, pinned beneath a cavern ceiling, straining to hold it aloft. Just ahead of her was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in as much pain as Ana. The Oracle spoke:

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._


	7. Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke makes a reluctant promise to Nico.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter Seven**

**The Capture of A Goddess**

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and that most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed in annoyance. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

Mr. D and Chiron (in his wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di'Angelo (who seemed to have become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end, in Ana's typical spot at the top of the table, causing resentment to rise in me at their audacity and self-importance.

Thalia and Grover and I sat along the right, and the other year-round head councillors—Beckendorf, Silena, and Lee Fletcher of Apollo—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Zoe started the meeting off. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping. He stopped sheepishly at the irritated glances he received from everybody.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said, any former timidness already erased despite only a few days of being with the Hunters, her skin glowing silver like her sisters' all did. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

"Except that the prophecy was given to  _me_ ," I pointed out coldly. " _I'm_  supposed to lead this mission, and it's to get back both Artemis  _and_  Ana, who is also quite important, or am I the only one who remembers that she might still be the Child of the Great Prophecy?"

I shot Thalia an apologetic look as I said that, just in case, but she was calm. I thought we had made up for earlier, because she was resting a hand on my knee in comfort under the table.

Zoe glowered at me, and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Thalia before she could.

"And anyway, Zoe, you're missing something, as usual," Thalia said, drumming her fingers on the table irritably. "The prophecy said that Campers and Hunters  _combined prevail_. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe cried. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr," she pronounced awkwardly. "We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Oh, forget it."

"I fear that the Oracle was clear on the whole thing," Chiron said, trying to be diplomatic and keep us from actually using the weapons that we were all touching. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate, under Luke's leadership."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate, and the Hunters lose their tempers with the boy?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, his exhaustion at the events of the past twenty-four hours slipping into his frustrated tone. "With all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe nodded. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions. If she is absent, the gods will simply debate and end up deciding nothing. We will lose yet another year of preparing for war."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis' presence at the winter council is absolutely critical, and finding Ana before the Titans can do anything to force her to help them is also vital. We have only a week to find them both. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster that Artemis was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest. Luke, who-?"

"I'll take Zoe, and she can choose another Hunter to come with us," I announced. Chiron's comment about Ana being forced to cooperate with the Titans had disturbed me. What did he think that they would do to her?

"They'll be the Hunter reps. Thalia and Grover are the others from here. Thalia is the most powerful demigod we have at the moment, and Grover's empathy link with Ana might help us track down where they're being held. Everybody be ready to leave at dawn. This meeting is over."

With that, I turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind me, and hurrying back to Ana's cabin to avoid being accosted by any angry Hunters. They wouldn't think to look for me there, and no one else would dare to tempt Poseidon's wrath by entering his cabin. I could sulk there until it was time to go to bed.

Except, of course, I forgot something. Chiron knew everything. He came into the cabin while I was flicking through the photo album that Silena, Katie and Lou Ellen had made Ana for her birthday last August. I was looking at a photo of Ana and I on the Fourth of July when he came. She was wearing a blue bikini, her brunette waves pulled out of her face and into a half-plait, and her eyes sparkled with happiness as she leaned into me and the fireworks display went off. Seeing her so light-hearted for once hurt when I compared it to her in my dream.

"I thought that I would find you in here," he murmured as he wheeled himself in and parked beside me. I glanced tiredly at him.

"Any tips on how to survive this mess?" I asked bluntly, not up to dancing around the topic. He sighed, looking down at the photo himself. Pain flashed over his expression as he gazed at photo Ana's happy expression. It was a rare sight to see her so cheerful and bright.

"Luke, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," I shrugged grumpily as I remembered my first prophecy, and how the Oracle had rambled on about making a choice that would decide the fate of the world. I sure as Hades couldn't remember making any such decisions. All I had done was steal an apple and get a scar on my face. Nothing world-altering in repeating someone else's actions. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."

"She's a good fighter," I snapped defensively. Chiron turned back to me, nodding.

"Yes, she is," he agreed. "But her fatal flaw is dangerous. You must keep an eye out for it."

I grimaced, hating to know that he was right about that. After all, power-hunger was a dangerous thing.

"Who do you think is better suited for the Great Prophecy?" I asked suddenly. "Ana or Thalia?"

"They are both very alike," Chiron mused thoughtfully. "However, Ana is humble, and cares far more about people and the effects of her actions on those who surround than Thalia does. Ana doesn't want power, she wants peace."

So, Ana then. Like what I thought, even if I'd never say that aloud to Thalia. I didn't speak, and Chiron eventually turned back to me.

"Try to get along with the Hunters," he begged. "It is vital, if your mission is to succeed. I know that it's difficult, but Zoe does have a reason to distrust men so much. She is a good person at heart."

"Yeah," I scoffed. "I'm sure. But not all males should be judged by the actions of one asshole."

He inclined his head in acknowledgment. "That is true," he conceded. "But for Ana's sake, try to cooperate."

He had me there. I'd do anything for Ana.

Chiron turned and started to wheel himself out of the cabin. "Go to your cabin and get some sleep, Luke," he ordered over his shoulder. "You have an early start tomorrow. And, ah, for what it's worth… I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah."

I didn't need to ask. I knew that Chiron's father was Kronos, the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.

"Chiron," I called, right before he slipped through the door. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?" I had a few ideas, but nothing concrete. What kind of prison made for a Titan could be survived by a demigod, even a child of one of the Big Three?

His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Luke."

Reluctantly, I returned to my cabin, and tucked myself into my bunk. My cabin was always stuffed with kids, even during the school year, but it still seemed strangely quiet as I lay in bed, thinking about the coming quest. I don't remember falling asleep, but I  _definitely_  do remember the dream.

I was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above me. Ana was in an awkward sort of crouch, like she was worshipping a god in the ancient days, under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to moan. Her whole body trembled. At any second, I knew that she would run out of her little remaining strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her, crushing her and thousands of innocent mortals to death.

"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed.

It wasn't Kronos. Ana had described Kronos' voice as raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. She 'd shivered at the mere memory of the voice that regularly haunted her dreams. This voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its' force made the ground vibrate.

Ethan emerged from the shadows. He walked casually to Ana, knelt beside her to look her over, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading," he informed him, not sounding concerned despite his words. "We must hurry."

Damn that bastard and Annabeth both to the deepest, darkest depths of Tartarus itself. Damn them. No more would I let our history influence me. If I ever got the chance, I would kill them both.

The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light. It was Artemis, and her hands and feet were bound in celestial bronze chains.

I gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.

"You heard the boy," said the man in the shadows. "Decide!"

Artemis' eyes flashed with anger. I cursed the fact that capturing the largest part of a god's essence rendered them powerless.

The goddess looked at Ana and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"

"She will die soon," Ethan told her, smirking triumphantly. "You can save her."

Ana made a weak sound of protest. Her head twitched, like she was trying to shake it, but she didn't have the strength. My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn't move. The dream kept me frozen in place, unable to do anything but watch the living nightmare play out.

"Free my hands," Artemis demanded, her shoulders slumping in resignation.

Ethan brought out his sword out, and with one expert strike, he broke the goddess' handcuffs in half.

Artemis ran to Ana and took the burden from her shoulders. Ana collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering, while Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.

"M' la'y," Ana whispered. "S'ry."

Artemis shook her head. "You bare no blame for this, young maiden," she assured her as Ana slipped into unconsciousness, the goddess gasping slightly from the weight of whatever she was carrying.

The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."

"You surprised me," the goddess hissed, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."

"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now that you are out of the way for good! I knew that you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."

"You know nothing of mercy, you swine," Artemis groaned bitterly, glaring resentfully at him.

"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Ethan, you may kill the girl now."

"NO!" Artemis and I both yelled. Ethan didn't move however.

"We can't," he informed the other man, grimacing in disappointment. "Lord Kronos demands that she be left alive for the moment. A backup plan, if you will."

Artemis sighed in relief, and I felt my own shoulders slump. Whatever they were going to do was bad, but at least it gave us time.

The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, and they can keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless. Let them do what they will with her, as long as she lives. Having a child of the Big Three on our side would be a great boon for our side, especially if she is as powerful as she is rumoured to be."

Ethan gathered up Ana's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.

"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis declared, glaring bitterly at the man. "Your plan will fail. And the girl is loyal. She will not give in."

"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows replied. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you with several supposed heroes, as the half-bloods proclaim themselves to be. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure that their quest is… challenging."

The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.

I woke with a start as my wristwatch (one of the many modern items modified by Cabin 9 to be safely used by demigods) buzzed silently. Time to get ready to go.

Careful not to disturb any of my cabinmates, I grabbed my duffel bag, which was waiting, fully packed, on the end of my bed. Not even Travis and Connor would have dared to touch it. Not in the current circumstances.

As I made my way to Half-Blood Hill, I spontaneously went to wander along the beach. I paused for a moment and stared out over the ocean, which was dark and stormy, reflecting its' master's anger. Despite Ana's own beliefs, at moments like this, I could actually believe that Poseidon cared about her, strange though the thought seemed. A god who cared about his mortal child. Who'd of thought?

I spotted something strange in the waves. A sort of cow-serpent cross, splashing happily in the angrily swirling sea. The way it moved almost felt as if it were gesturing at me to follow it. I shook my head, adjusting my bag and turning away to hurry off. We were leaving in ten minutes, and I wouldn't put it past Zoe to go without me, quest leader or not.

Making my way through the camp, I happened to glance at the dining pavilion. I saw a figure—a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone.

It was Nico, but it wasn't even fully dawn yet. Nowhere near time for breakfast. What was he doing up there and not in bed?

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was more time for Nico to tell me about his Mythomagic game, especially when I was nearly late due to my detour. But something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was crouching. And I was his counsellor. I had a responsibility to him.

I changed direction and went up to him, without Nico noticing. I was about to ask what he was doing when I spotted Zoe and Bianca. From the angle we were at, they couldn't notice us, but we could clearly see, and hear, the two of them.

"You should tell the others the rest of your dream," Bianca was saying. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. What were the Hunters keeping from us?

"No," Zoe refused. "It would not help."

"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General—"

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe cut her off. She sounded really anguished. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."

Nico scooted out of their way, and I used my Hermes abilities to slip away unseen.

"The lights of the Big House are on," Bianca called as the girls sprinted away from the pavilion. "Hurry!" And Zoe followed her out of the pavilion.

I could tell what Nico was thinking. He took a deep breath and was about to run after his sister when I grabbed his arm, calling out, "Wait."

He almost slipped on the icy steps as he spun around to find me. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here the whole time," I replied simply. It was only a partial lie.

"How did you know Zoe and your sister were here?" I asked sternly.

He blushed. "I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't… I don't sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps, and them whispering. So I kind of followed."

I felt a twinge of guilt at being so wrapped up in my worries for Ana that I hadn't realized Nico was having more problems than he had been letting on, but didn't say anything about it.

"And now you're thinking about following them on the quest," I guessed instead.

"How did you know that?"

"Because if it was one of my sisters, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."

He looked defiant. "Because I'm too young?"

"Yes," I answered honestly, "because you're too young, and inexperienced for this. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes  _will_  die. You wouldn't be a help on this, Nico, you'd be a hindrance, holding us back because we're trying to protect you."

His shoulders sagged at my harsh honesty. He shifted from foot to foot. "Fine," he whispered. "But I need you to promise me something."

I hesitated, because I had a feeling I knew what he wanted, and promising something like that, especially given the prophecy I'd received, was impossible.

"What is it?"

"Promise to keep my sister safe."

Gods, Bianca didn't deserve to have this kid as her brother. "I… that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. I can't—"

"Promise," he insisted.

"I'll do my best," I sighed. "I can promise you that."

"Get going, then!" he urged. "Good luck!"

I turned and used my shoes to fly up to the top of Half-Blood Hill, where everybody was waiting for me, along with one of the camp vans.

"Ready?" I glanced around. They nodded, faces tight with anxiety.

"May the Fates favour you all," Chiron murmured, his expression sorrowful as he watched us pile into the vehicle and drive away.


	8. Gardening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke sees the General.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I know that some parts of this chapter may seem confusing, but I hope that it will give insight into Luke's struggle to cope with his surrogate sister turning traitor. As easy as it is to say he hates her, he did raise her, and it's harder to actually make himself shut off the instinct to take care of her. I hope this will show that well. Enjoy, and thanks to anybody who reviewed, faved, etcd this story.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Zombie Gardening One-Oh-One**

Before any of the rest of us (meaning Thalia and I) could object, Zoe stole the keys and took control of the wheel of the car. Bianca grabbed the passenger seat, so Thalia, Grover and I took over the back of the van along with our bags. (The two Hunters kept their bags with them, least I infect their things with my maleness or something.)

"Grover, which way?" I asked him as Zoe began driving towards Manhattan at a speed that was definitely not legal.

"We do not require the satyr's advice," Zoe sniffed disdainfully. "The prophecy-" I cut her off quickly.

"My quest, my decision. And watch the road!" She looked back just in time to avoid colliding with a silver Porsche. I thought of Ana's fear of cars, caused by her mother's death, and forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat at the thought of how she would react to being in this car.

Meanwhile, Grover pulled a few acorns out of his pocket and began performing some sort of spell. He frowned at the results and redid it twice before shrugging and putting them away again.

"Washington D.C," he announced.

I blinked in surprise. "D.C, really?" I repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Grover nodded firmly. "I triple checked." He gave me an earnest look. "I won't mess this up Luke," he insisted. "It's Ana."

"Alright," I agreed. "Zoe, head for D.C."

Her fury at being ordered around by a guy was obvious, but whatever else I had to say about Zoe Nightshade, I would give her this, she would do anything for her goddess. Even follow my instructions. Although the trip was filled with Thalia and Zoe taking every opportunity to argue with each other, we didn't stop until Maryland.

Eventually, we pulled in to a gas station to refill the tank, and I grabbed myself and Thalia some hot drinks before hurrying to catch up with the others who were exiting the store ahead of me.

"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia was asking as I came up them sipping my hot chocolate. She gave me a thumbs up as I passed her the cup of coffee she had requested. Chiron would have been horrified, and rightfully so, but I figured that we could probably get away with it given the circumstances. Besides, it was decaf, not regular.

"Well," Grover hesitated despite his earlier confidence, and I felt my heart sink slightly. "I'm pretty sure anyway. Like, ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca said sceptically, like she couldn't believe it. I rolled my eyes.

"He's a satyr," I pointed out to her dryly. "Grover was learning that spell when you were learning the alphabet song."

She flushed in embarrassment, glancing at the ground. "D.C. is about sixty miles from here," she said, quickly changing the subject. "Nico and I…" She frowned. "We used to live there. That's… that's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this," Zoe huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at me. I met her gaze steadily. As scary as Zoe was, her glare still didn't compare to Ana or Thalia's during their 'time of the month'. She got closer than any other attempt I had seen though. I'd give her that.

"We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

"Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia growled.

Zoe stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"

"Oh,  _scullion_ ," Thalia repeated mockingly, her expression. Unlike Zoe's glare, Thalia's rising anger actually did make me feel worried. "You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"

"Whoa, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"

"Grover's right," I said stoically. "He has an empathy link with Ana, which strengthens his spells to find her. And we know already that the two of them are being kept together, so D.C is our best option."

Zoe still didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly when Bianca also voiced her support of D.C. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do. Luke is nineteen now, and actually has a license."

"Perhaps," Zoe snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."

Grover began doing more magic as we crossed the Potomac River into central Washington. Still following Grover's instructions, Zoe parked a few blocks away from the Washington Monument.

Annabeth's voice popped into my head as I clambered out and glanced at the obelisk.  _"The Washington Monument is an obelisk built to commemorate George Washington, a son of Athena and both the Commander-in-Chief of the former Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Located east of the-"_ I sharply cut the memory off, my jaw clenching.

I couldn't let myself be weak. Annabeth was a traitor, and I couldn't afford to let myself think of her as anything else. Not if I wanted Ana back alive. Ana, who was my best friend, and had proven her loyalty to me a million times over in the past two years. Ana who was right now going through gods know what at  _Chase's_  hands. Chase, not Annabeth. That was better.

"There," Grover said, pointing at the Smithsonian. "We have to go in there. And we can get something to eat as well."

The others nodded at that, Bianca patting her growling stomach, but I shook my head.

"I'll catch up to you guys at the food court," I told them. "I need to stretch my legs a bit. Get some fresh air."

"Very well," Zoe sniffed, looking relieved to get away from me as she hastened away with Grover and Bianca following at her heels. Thalia hesitated, giving me a worried look.

I forced a smile, trying to reassure her and failing epically, I could tell. She reached over and squeezed my hand comfortingly before heading after the others. She knew that I needed some space.

I found myself fidgeting with Ana's bracelet, which I had gotten back from Beckendorf last night. The shield was repaired, but not perfectly, and Beck had warned that it was a patch job.

Ana would be distraught if it got fully destroyed during the quest, I thought as I meandered around. I'd have to avoid using it as much as possible.

That was when I saw him.

A block away, the door of a black sedan had just opened. A man with grey hair and a military buzz cut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. Now, in Washington, maybe you would expect guys like that to be everywhere. Private security and stuff.

But it dawned on me that I'd seen this same car from the backdoor window a couple of times on the highway, going south. I had dismissed it originally, but now I realized the truth. It had been following us.

The guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of the others, who were still in sight, though I couldn't warn any of them.

The worst of it was: when he turned toward where I had ducked behind a tree to hide, I recognized his face. It was Doctor Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall. The monster who had taken Ana from me.

Making full use of my Hermes' inheritance to make myself blend in to my surroundings (my favourite power), I followed Thorn from a distance. My heart was pounding as I tried to keep from giving into the urge to lunge at him and gain vengeance for Ana's suffering. The image of her face, contorted in agony and paler than the time she had been poisoned by Chase and Nakamura was branded into the backs of my eyelids.

Thorn kept well back from my friends, careful not to be seen.

Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.

Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold, and school was out of session. They slipped inside.

Doctor Thorn hesitated. I wasn't sure why, but he didn't go into the museum. He turned and headed across the Mall. I made a split-second decision and followed him.

Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door. At first, I thought that it said CLOSED FOR PIRATE EVENT. Then I realized that  _PIRATE_ must have actually been  _PRIVATE_. Damn dyslexia. Just another way to make a half-blood's life even harder. Seriously, why can't we ever catch a break?

I followed Doctor Thorn inside, through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, but I knew that I couldn't slip in after him.

Instead, I ended up climbing into an air vent and crawling through it to see inside. I still can't believe I wasn't caught, even with my abilities.

Inside, I saw a truly horrific scene.

I was looking down at a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two dracaenae, or, as Ana called them 'Ancient Greek snake whores'.

But that wasn't the worse of it. Standing between the dracaenae was Annabeth Chase herself.

She looked terrible. Her skin was unnaturally pale (especially for a half-blood. Almost all of us had a natural tan, or developed one quickly from so much time outdoors.) and her blond hair looked almost grey, as if she had aged ten years in just a few months. She still looked angry, like she had every day for years.

I hated the concern for her that I felt, so soon after vowing not to feel anything but distrust and hatred towards her for what she had done.

Next to her, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was a man. The only part of him that I could make out were his knuckles resting on the gilded arms of his chair, like he was a medieval king sitting a throne.

"Well?" asked the man in the chair. His voice was just like the one I'd heard in my dream, deep and strong, like the earth itself was talking. It filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.

Doctor Thorn took off his shades. His two-coloured eyes glittered with excitement as he made a stiff bow, then spoke in his weird French accent: "They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool," boomed the man. "But where are they?"

"In the rocket museum."

"The Air and Space Museum," Ann-Chase corrected in a haughty tone. I had used to be fondly amused by that tone, but now it filled me with the same annoyance it had done to everybody else who had heard it.

Doctor Thorn glared at her. "As you say,  _madam_."

He spat the title, and I got the feeling that Thorn would just as soon impale Chase with one of his spikes as call her 'madam'.

"How many?" Chase demanded.

Thorn pretended not to hear her.

"How many?" the General snapped, his voice making me shiver in fear.

"Five, General," Thorn answered quickly. "The satyr, Grover Underwood. And the girl with the spiky black hair and the—how do you say—punk clothes and the horrible shield."

"Thalia," Annabeth muttered, her hand clenching.

"And two other girls—Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know," the General growled.

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"The other boy, the blonde with the scar, went for a walk."

"Where did he go?"

Thorn hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "I am unsure, General," he admitted. "I followed the larger group."

"Fool!" the General spat. He turned to a nearby guard, and ordered him to go and find me. I held my breath, not daring to breathe in fear of discovery.

"Let me take them," Annabeth said to the General when the mortal was gone. "We have more than enough—"

"Have patience, girl," the General replied. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied, and the boy will soon be found."

"But—"

"We cannot risk you, my girl."

"Yes, girl," Doctor Thorn agreed with a cruel smile. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off."

"No." The General rose from his chair, stepping out of the shadows that had hidden him, and I finally got my first proper look at him.

He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone. I felt as if I were looking at a living statue. It was amazing he could even move.

"You have already failed me once, Thorn," he told the manticore in a deathly tone of voice.

"But, General—"

"No excuses!"

Thorn flinched. I'd thought that Thorn was scary when I first saw him in his black uniform at the military academy. But now, standing before the General, Thorn looked more like a little kid playing dress-up as a soldier. This General guy was the real deal. He didn't need a uniform. He was a born commander.

"I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence," the General sneered. "I send you to capture  _both_  children of the elder gods, and instead you bring only one."

"But I  _did_  bring her to you," Thorn protested. "And you promised me revenge. A command of my own!"

"I am Lord Kronos' senior commander," the General said. "And I will choose lieutenants who get me results! Half the goal is still failure. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you. And be glad that I am so merciful."

Thorn's face turned purple with rage. I almost thought that he was going to go crazy and start shooting spine spikes, but I wasn't that lucky. Instead he just bowed awkwardly and left the room.

"Now, my girl." The General turned to Chase. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Chase said. "Zoe Nightshade—"

"Do not speak her name!"

Annabeth swallowed. "S—sorry, General. I just—"

The General silenced her with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my girl, how we will bring the Hunters down."

He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, Lord General!"

"Plant them," he ordered.

In the centre of the room was a big circle of dirt, where I guess a dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. I watched nervously as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "It's ready, my Lord General!"

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was dark red liquid, and I got the feeling it wasn't wine.

The soil began to bubble.

"Soon," the General said with a vicious smile, "I will show you, Annabeth, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Annabeth clenched her fists. "Ethan and I have spent a year training our forces! When the  _Princess Andromeda_  arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best—" Her fatal flaw of hubris had always ruled her.

"Ha.'" the General said. "I don't deny your troops will make a fine honour guard for Lord Kronos. And you and your boy, of course, will both have a role to play—"

I thought that Annabeth turned even paler when the General said that, but it was hard to be sure.

"—but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines."

The soil erupted, and I said a silent prayer to the Fates for it to have gone wrong somehow, because I suspected I remembered what this was, and if I was right, we were screwed.

In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said: "Mew?"

It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt.

Everyone stared at them in disbelief. The General roared, "What is this?  _Cute cuddly kittens_? Where did you find those teeth?"

The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The sabre-toothed tiger—"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those… those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again if you wish to live."

The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.

"You.'" The General pointed to another guard. "Go and get me the  _right_  teeth. NOW!"

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles," muttered the General.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Chase said, as coolly as if commenting on the weather. "They are unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General answered. "I love them."

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large, pointy teeth.

"Excellent," the General smiled. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet.

Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."

"Another hot pad, sir?" a guard asked. "More Tylenol?"

"No! It will pass." The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself."

He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."

Yup, I knew what this was. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I watched in despair as he planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. "Rise!"

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.

The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yesssss, lord," one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its' scent, they will pursue its' owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as I watched, turning into men, but men with dull grey skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes—grey muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. If you didn't look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images.

One of them looked straight up at me, regarding me coldly, and I knew that no magic nor steel ceilings would fool it. I looked at the silvery cloth again, going over what I knew of these creatures, and what the General had said about them.

The dracaenae released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct. I didn't like them, but they didn't deserve that. I could see how Ana would act in my mind's eye, and I fully agreed with it.

I didn't give myself time to think. I just jumped down, crying out to activate my shoes and kicking the warriors out of my way so that I could snatch the scarf out of the air.

"What's this?" bellowed the General.

I landed at the feet of a skeleton warrior, who hissed.

"Luke!" Chase cried. "Stop him!"

I flew towards and open window, but heard a ripping sound and realized the skeleton warrior had taken a chunk out of my shirt. When I glanced back, he was holding the fabric up to his nose, sniffing the scent, handing it around to his friends. I wanted to scream or curse, but I couldn't. I squeezed through the window and tumbled onto the ground. When I glanced back, the barrel of a gun was being aimed at me.

So I ran.


	9. Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The questers face off with the Nemean Lion.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Chapter Nine**

**Killing A Cat**

I tore across the Mall, not daring to look behind me. I burst into the Air and Space Museum and raced through the admissions area.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips. I wanted to yell at them all to leave, but I figured that would only get me arrested. I had to find Thalia and Grover and the Hunters. Any minute now, the Spartoi were going to invade the museum, and I didn't think they would settle for an audio tour.

I ran into Thalia—literally. I was barrelling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony and slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule.

Grover yelped in surprise.

Before I could regain my balance, Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at my chest. Their bows had just appeared out of nowhere.

When Zoe realized who I was, she reluctantly lowered her bow. "Why art thou running in such a manner?" she demanded. "Thy shall attract attention!"

"Annabeth," I said, trying to catch my breath. "I saw her. She's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes at being knocked over immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet, glancing around anxiously. "Where?"

I told them what had happened at the Natural History Museum with Doctor Thorn, Annabeth, and the General.

"The General is here?" Zoe looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time to argue. Spartoi—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve," I said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you guys over here while they looked for me. Some sort of monster, but I don't know what."

Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

"We found a trace of Artemis' trail while heading for the food court," Grover said. "And I can smell some powerful monster scent that I don't recognize… She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoe," Bianca's voice was nervous, "if it  _is_  the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Luke must have seen an Iris-message or some other kind of illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," I told her flatly. I couldn't believe that we were even arguing about this. My mental Ana was flinging her hands up in the air over how stupid we were being. The middle of a museum with lots of glass and mortals was a terrible place for a battle.

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. I didn't know why she was taking it so personally, or how she knew the General, but I knew that now wasn't the time to ask. "If Luke is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible… We must leave now."

"Agreed," I nodded. "Let's go. We're in trouble if we end up fighting in here."

That was something that nobody could dispute. Temporarily setting aside our arguments, we began heading for the exit. We were too late.

As we reached the staircase, I heard a growl so loud that I almost thought one of the rocket engines was starting up.

Below us, a few adults screamed in terror. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. I'd seen this monster once before. Two years ago, Ana and I had glimpsed it briefly from a train. That time, we had managed to avoid being forced to confront the monster, and Ana had always said was one of the biggest monsters she had ever seen. Now, up close and personal, it looked even bigger.

"The Nemean Lion," Thalia whispered. "Don't move."

The lion roared so loud it parted my hair. Its' fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoe ordered, keeping her gaze fixed on the lion. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked fearfully.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

I unsheathed my sword and rolled to the left. Arrows whistled past me, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. I turned and saw Zoe and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lion's metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its' side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its' path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia called. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed at the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire.

For a second, I thought Thalia had it under control. Then I saw the lion crouching, its' leg muscles tensing. I'd seen enough cat fights in the alleys during my years living on the streets. I knew that the lion was going to pounce.

"Hey!" I yelled. I knew I had no chance to actually destroy it, but I needed to get it away from Thalia. I slashed at it with my sword, a good strike to the flank that should've cut the monster into chunks of Fancy Feast, but the blade just clanged against its' fur in a burst of sparks.

The lion raked me with its' claws, ripping off a chunk of my coat. I backed against the railing. It sprang at me, one thousand pounds of monster, and I had no choice but to turn and jump, activating my shoes while I did so. I ended up hovering just beside an old airplane, hanging from the ceiling.

An arrow whizzed past my head. The lion jumped onto the aircraft, and the cords holding the plane began to groan.

The lion swiped at me, and I dropped down to hide behind the next exhibit, a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter. I looked up and saw the lion roar—and inside its' maw, a pink tongue and throat.

A weak point! I realized triumphantly.

"Aim for the mouth!" I bellowed to the others. "The mouth's vulnerable! Aim for the mouth!"

The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and I dropped from the spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of the earth. I slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its' weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" I yelled. "Clear the area!"

Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from me, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded us both, trying to decide which of us to kill first.

Zoe and Bianca were above us, their bows held at the ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" Zoe yelled. "Get it to open its' mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

I looked around. Options. I needed options.

My eyes landed on the gift shop. I had a vague memory of Ana telling me about her trip here as a little kid. Something that she had made her mother buy her, and subsequently regretted it. If they still sold that stuff…

"Thalia," I called to her, "keep it occupied."

She nodded grimly.

"Hi-yah!" She pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail.

"ROOOOOOOAR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its' way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and I ran for the gift shop.

"This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Zoe yelled.

I rolled my eyes, wondering just what had happened to make her hate males so much. Surely she realized that I had a plan, and wasn't just being selfish? I didn't deny that some guys were that way, but so were some women. And I knew my responsibility. I wasn't going to let people die if I could stop it. Which was why I needed to get to the gift shop.

I dashed into the shop, uncharacteristically clumsy as I knocked over rows of T-shirts, flew over tables full of glow-in-the-dark planets and space ooze, and just generally wrecked the place completely. The sales lady didn't protest. She was too busy cowering behind her cash register, shrieking into her phone about an escaped zoo lion eating the exhibits.

There! That had to be them. On the far wall were several dozen glittery silver packets. I scooped up every kind I could find and ran out of the shop with an armful clutched to me chest.

Zoe and Bianca were still showering arrows on the monster, but it was no good. The lion seemed to know better than to open its' mouth too much. It snapped at Thalia, slashing with its' claws. It even kept its' eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her.

"Luke," she yelled, "whatever you're going to do—"

The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy, sending her flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor, unmoving. Dread and fury filled me, and I dashed forward as fast as I could.

"Hey!" I bellowed at the lion. I was too far away to strike, so I took a risk: I hurled my sword like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward me and snarled.

There was only one way to get close enough. In a very Ana Jackson-like stunt, I charged straight at the monster, and as the lion leaped to intercept me, I chunked a space food pouch into its' maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait.

The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

"NOW!" I cried to the Hunters as I tossed more into its' open mouth, widening the monster's maw. "Kill it now!"

The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its' mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from me.

"Now!" I yelled again.

The girls didn't need any more encouragement. Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.

Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. I sighed in relief because she seemed okay, just a little dazed. Zoe and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to me.

Zoe eyed me cautiously. "That was… an interesting strategy," she told me. I wasn't sure if it was a sort of compliment, or if she was insulting me somehow.

I shrugged, deciding it didn't matter. After all. "Hey, it worked."

She didn't argue.

The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its' glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoe said to me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"You killed it," I said.

She shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Luke Castellan. Take the fur."

I nearly went into shock. Was it possible that Zoe Nightshade and I might have managed to come to a truce, even just for a few minutes?

Not daring to speak and risk breaching the moment of comradery between us, I lifted the cape up. Considering it was made of solid gold, it was surprisingly light. The fur was smooth and soft. It didn't feel at all like something that could stop a blade, though I knew that it had been Heracles' main advantage, after his raw strength. As I watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster.

"Not exactly my style," I murmured. Mental Ana whispered a suggestion in my mind of what to do with it. Something that would be way more beneficial than me wearing it would be. I couldn't do it here, so I pulled it on to keep it out of the way until I could perform my idea.

"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

I noticed for the first time that the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest us like they usually would do after an event like this. Instead, they were scrambling in all directions except ours, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other.

"You did that?" I asked Grover.

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said, voice grim as she pointed. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, I could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Grey men in grey camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but I could feel their gaze aimed straight at me.

"Go," I urged my companions. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"Luke, no-" Thalia began.

"No," Zoe said at the same time. "We go together."

I stared at her in surprise. "But—"

"You are the leader of this quest," Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing what the Fates have decreed. You are the quest leader. And we are not leaving anyone behind."


	10. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke has a chat with Apollo.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Chapter Ten**

**Lamborghini Dreams**

We were crossing the Potomac when we spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one we'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward us.

"They know the van," I said, leaning forward to see better. "We have to ditch it."

Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was still gaining on us.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover suggested hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," I pointed out pessimistically. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid. Sometimes mortals can be even more horrible than the monsters are."

Well, I couldn't exactly argue with that, especially after hearing some of my cabinmates' and Ana's stories. Not that any of them said a lot, but their scars that couldn't have come from monster claws and occasional hunted expressions tended to say enough.

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than we were through D.C. traffic. It kept pace with us easily. Any moment now, we could be attacked, though hopefully not while driving through a crowded street like this.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

But of course, he didn't answer. The sky stayed grey and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm, and the amount of strength that would be needed to blast the helicopter out of the sky would be way beyond Thalia herself.

"There!" Bianca cried, pointing furiously. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoe protested.

"Trust me," Bianca insisted.

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We left the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," she explained. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

Now, I'm no expert on that sort of thing, but I didn't see how D.C.'s entire subway system could be less than twelve years old. I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing, because they all looked pretty confused too.

"Bianca," Zoe began. "How long ago…" Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," I said tensely. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we finally managed to lose the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat, despite Mental Ana's constant sniggering about it.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!'

We huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is just g-g-g-great."

"My hooves are frozen," Grover complained.

"Feet," I corrected, for the sake of the homeless guy, though he didn't seem to have noticed anything strange.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca murmured. "Get Chiron to send help."

"No," Zoe said, shaking her head. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

"Zoe's right," I agreed in a clipped tone at the thought. "There's a reason that quests are only supposed be a certain number. If there's too many, believe when I say that the Fates will find a way to get it back to their approved length."

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed strangely kind. I didn't trust it. No one helps someone else without ulterior motives. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," I said, hiding my suspicion behind a mask of politeness. "Do you know about any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's… convenient," Thalia muttered, her electric blue eyes going narrow in wariness. "Thanks, uh…"

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him. Oh, this was a trap in some way, but we had no other options.

Still, I decided to take advantage, and stripped off my coat, tossing it into the trash can. Ignoring the others' questions, I pulled out my box of matches, and set the coat on fire. "To Artemis," I murmured, watching the flames turn to silver.

When I turned back around, Zoe was giving me an undecipherable look. "Thank you," she whispered, as we headed for the train.

"Don't mention it."

An hour later we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because we all got our own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.

"Join you?" I asked her.

She shrugged, so I climbed into the shotgun seat.

"Shame about your coat," Thalia told me sarcastically.

I shrugged. "It's better off giving Artemis strength then warming me up. Anyway the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for."

"Not even close. We've got a long way to go."

"Whatever this mystery monster is, the General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster will appear and approach you one-on-one."

"He said that?"

"Well, something like that. Yeah."

"That's great. I love being used as bait."

"No idea what the monster might be?"

She shook her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."

"The Mountain of Despair," I muttered. "The old Titan Base. They must be holding Ana there too. I dreamed she was in the dark ruins. And I think I've figured out what the Titan's Curse is."

"What?" Thalia asked urgently, sitting up and twisting to look at me properly.

"Remember Heracles', uh, eleventh labour that I copied? The one where he had to steal the apples from Hera's tree? Remember how he did it?"

Thalia had gone pale, and she had one hand half-covering her mouth. "So, the General must be-"

"Yeah," I cut her off before she could say the name, grimacing.

"Fuck," Thalia stated, giving a basic summary of the situation. "This is bad."

"Yeah," I agreed. We sat in silence for a while longer, but eventually I couldn't take the tension anymore and I slipped out of the car, leaving Thalia to glare silently out of the window.

I ended up sitting in the driver's seat of Grover's Lamborghini. Grover was asleep in the back. He'd finally given up trying to impress Zoe and Bianca with his pipe music after he played "Poison Ivy" and caused that very stuff to sprout from their Lexus' air conditioner.

As I watched the sun go down, I thought of Ana. I was afraid to go to sleep. I was worried what I might dream. It killed me to see her hurting, and be completely unable to help, or even comfort her.

"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams," a voice spoke up from right next to me.

I looked over. I wasn't surprised to find the homeless guy from the rail yard sitting in the shotgun seat. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

"If it weren't for dreams," he said, "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than Olympus tabloids." He cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:

_"Dreams like a podcast,_

_Downloading truth in my ears._

_They tell me cool stuff."_

He looked at me expectantly, and I resigned myself to having a conversation with a god against my will.

"Apollo?" I guessed, because I figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad.

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"Frederica would be more discreet," I deadpanned. "Why're you incognito in the first place?"

"Eh, well… Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."

"Are you going to help us, then?"

"Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"

"The train. How fast are we moving?"

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. Can't drive after that. But I imagine that we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."

"Is Artemis at the Titan's Base?"

His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that for sure. The chances are high, but she's… clouded from me. I don't like it."

"And Ana?"

He frowned. "Poseidon's daughter? Hmm. I don't know that either. Don't be surprised if Uncle P gives a hand too though. He is  _not_  happy that his baby girl has been kidnapped. There's been five tropical storms already."

I didn't know what to say to that, and Mental Ana was insisting that Poseidon had some other reason for his actions then her kidnapping (really, it was like I was actually hearing Ana, and not just imagining her), so I changed the subject.

"What about the monster Artemis was seeking?" I asked. "Do you know what it is? Why is it so dangerous?"

"I don't," Apollo admitted frankly. "There are several options, what with the Great Stirring, but I amn't sure which. But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."

"But it's  _your_  Oracle," I protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed dramatically. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."

"In other words, you don't know."

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Luke, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"

I wanted to protest that I wasn't tired and I'd never made up any poem, let alone a haiku in my life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing I knew I was closing my eyes.

In my dream, I was somebody else. I was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy down south, and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape, and I was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand.

"Hurry!" she urged. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but I could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!"

It was night-time. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, strangely familiar, and yet the girl was leading me through it, as if we were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," I tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she replied, pulling me along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.

We raced up the side of the hill. She pulled me behind a thorn bush and we collapsed, both breathing heavily. I didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And I felt strong. Stronger than I'd ever felt before.

"There is no need to run," I told her. My voice sounded deeper, so confident it bordered on arrogance. "I have bested a thousand monsters with only my bare hands alone."

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

The hurt in her voice surprised me. She was really concerned, like she cared deeply about me.

"I don't trust your father," I told her, despite the fact that I didn't have a clue who said father was.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

I chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me for my betrayal."

"Then there is nothing for it." I stood up, rubbing my hands together.

"Wait," the girl said.

She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone. I felt like I recognized it somehow, and Mental Ana hissed in surprised distress at the sight.

"Take it," she told me. "And make of it a weapon."

I laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted sadly. "But it is all that I can offer to help you, if you must insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened my heart. I reached down and took the hairpin, and as I did, it grew longer and heavier in my hand, until I held a familiar bronze sword.

"Well balanced," I said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the girl answered sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

Before I could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl cried out in fear. "Too late! He is here!"

I sat bolt upright in the Lamborghini's driver's seat. Grover was shaking my arm.

"Luke," he said. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!"

I tried to shake off my drowsiness. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

I paused at the doorway, waving Grover ahead of me, and fished a picture out of my pocket to stare at it. It showed Ana after a miniature swordfighting tournament, that she had won. Her laurel crown hung crookedly on her dark waves of hair, and she laughed as she leaned on her sword.

Anaklusmos. Just looking at the picture, and I was sure I was right. It was the same blade I'd seen in my dream.

And I was sure of something else, too. The girl that I had seen was none other than Zoe Nightshade herself.


	11. Shootouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The questers face off with their skeletal enemies in New Mexico.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. BTW: 'Halcyon' is the name I gave Luke's sword. (I admit, I totally forgot about it until I was going over the story again.)**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Zombie Shootouts**

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Unsurprisingly given the fact that I was wearing my favourite (old and patched) leather jacket and a camp t-shirt, I was freezing by the time we got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As we walked, I told Grover about my conversation with Apollo the night before—how he'd told me to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.

Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."

"We will," I replied smoothly. Truthfully, though, I had my doubts.

I didn't want to jinx us by mentioning it, but I knew we had huge deadline looming if we wanted to save Artemis and Ana in time. The winter solstice was on Friday, only four days away. And the General had said something about a sacrifice. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

In my opinion, the best decision ever made by humanity was to get rid of living sacrifices. Give me burning my dinner to a deadbeat father any day. At least beef doesn't know what's happening to it.

We stopped in the middle of town to get our bearings. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store. Probably smaller than the entire camp grounds. Ana, always so free-spirited and claustrophobic, would have hated the place.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" Grover pointed out brightly.

"Yes," Zoe nodded. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

Thalia sighed, flinging her hands up in a silent gesture of 'seriously?'. I decided to intervene, least bloodshed break out between anyone.

"Okay," I clapped my hands together briskly, hoping to warm them up. Why were my gloves fingerless again? "Zoe, Grover, could the two of you go get us some food while the rest of us check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions to the nearest train station, or car rental."

We agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with us, but she did.

Inside the store, we found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and (most importantly of all) there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk suggested doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

Mental Ana commented sympathetically on how lonely the clerk looked, so I bought a rubber rat on her urging, absently wondering when I'd gotten so used to being insane. Then we headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia hissed grumpily. I stepped slightly to the side to avoid any electrocutions. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—" Bianca began.

"I know," she snapped back at the huntress. "I'm checking anyway."

I waved her off, giving Bianca a look, silently telling her to stand down. I knew how it felt to be restless. What half-blood didn't? We couldn't stand just waiting around, it went against our inborn battle reflexes. And I knew Thalia better than anybody else. I knew when she needed some space to think.

Bianca and I stood together awkwardly. Truthfully, if I'd had to choose between spending time with Zoe alone, or with Bianca, then I would have chosen Zoe.

Zoe, at least, had a genuine reason for joining the Hunters. She had been betrayed, and seen the trauma that many young girls had suffered due to whatever events had led them to join the Hunters. Zoe, and most of her surrogate sisters, were utterly devoted to Artemis.

Bianca, however. She'd had no reason to become a Huntress, save for the fact that she wanted immortality, and she had been sick of her (seemingly self-appointed) role as her brother's caregiver. She'd only known of her heritage for a few days, and had yet to properly prove herself in battle (during the fight with the Nemean Lion, she had barely grazed the monster twice. Several of her arrows, were they not spelled to pass harmlessly through mortals, would have at best badly injured mortals.) I didn't approve of her presence on the quest when she was so new to this life, and it was hard for me to bite my lip when I compared Nico's expression as he'd pleaded with me to keep his sister safe, and her utter indifference to the young boy.

"Nice rat," Bianca said at last, maybe wanting to break the silence.

I set it on the porch railing, giving a shrug. I cast my gaze over the snow-coated town, trying to think about what our next step would be. I didn't think that we could afford to spend the money (or the time) needed for a taxi. Maybe I could hotwire a car?

"You're mad at me for joining the Hunters, aren't you?" she pressed.

I bit back a huff, trying not to roll my eyes to the sky. Really? What did it even matter if I was? We were on a world-saving quest, our personal differences made no impact, as long as we could put them aside. Still, it was obvious that Bianca wouldn't let me keep to my thoughts, so I shrugged.

"It's really none of my business," I replied briskly.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. She looked at me like she wanted assurance it was okay. Too bad for her.

"You're his only family," I told her. "He loves you." Okay, so I was probably being unfair. But she had been selfish, and the son of the god of lies I may have been, but I didn't give people false platitudes. I didn't approve of her decision, that was it. I wasn't going to waste my breath pretending otherwise.

She looked down at the railing, biting her lip.

Sighing, I threw her a bone. "He'll be okay," I offered. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of kids without family. Ana and I for example."

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Ana, I mean. She's very lucky to have a friend like you."

"Lot of good it did her," I muttered darkly, Ana's scream as she fell over the cliff echoing in my mind all over again. Bianca gave me a sympathetic look, which only irritated me further.

"Don't blame yourself Luke," she urged me. "You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy."

I pursed my lips. A good guy. Hah, showed what she knew. I didn't answer, instead returning to my silent contemplation of the landscape. Fortunately, she didn't try and draw me out of my thoughts this time.

A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoe came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. Good, I was starving. For whatever reason, that reminded me of Bianca's strange comment back in D.C.

"So what's the story with you and Nico?" I asked her. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."

"Why?"

She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We travelled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then… I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."

It was a strange story. Then again, Bianca and Nico were half-bloods. Nothing would ever be normal for them.

"So you've been raising Nico yourself pretty much all your life?" I asked. "Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad," she explained, eyes wide and imploring. "I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico—don't get me wrong—I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."

The thing is, I got where she was coming from. I had been acting as 'older brother/caregiver' for years. Ever since meeting seven-year-old Annabeth on the streets. But I had never complained about it, even when I was angry and bitter because the cabin was overfilled. Or when I was nursing ten-year-old Julia through pneumonia. Last year, Ana had willingly taken on the responsibility of caring for her Cyclops half-brother, never uttering a word of upset, although Tyson had the mental capacity of a mentally ill two-year-old, and the ability to break her arm in half during a temper tantrum.

I got where Bianca was coming from alright. But I could never understand it, and I sure as Tartarus could never _do_ it.

I was saved from trying to figure out how to reply to her when Zoe and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca and me. Coffee for them. To eat, I got a blueberry muffin.

I'm sure Grover meant well, but the sight of it wiped away any vestiges of cheer I had left. Ana loved to bake, and add food dye made from blueberries for some reason to do with her mother. Jokingly, Travis and Connor had made her a certificate for 'Best Blueberry Baker' last Christmas.

The muffin from the shop sat like a log in my stomach, though under other circumstances I'm sure that I would have enjoyed it.

"We should do the tracking spell again," Zoe said as she dabbed away a few crumbs from her croissant. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze.

I was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else—almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. The rubber rat I had bought squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. We all gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia called as she ran up the street. "I just… What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," I replied, as I went through the standard check. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia snapped. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. She probably was, in fact. "We have to get out of here."

We made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of grey camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent grey skin and yellow eyes.

They drew their handguns. It was intimidating, I have to admit. I'd never stared down the barrel of a gun before, though the police had aimed them in my direction a couple of times. I decided that I preferred swords. More chance of survival, and less. Impersonal, I guess.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiralled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into me.

I drew my sword, though I wasn't sure what good it would do against guns.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," Thalia ordered.

We started to—but then I heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind us. We were surrounded.

I wondered where the other skeletons were. I'd seen a dozen at the Smithsonian. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly I understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for us. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon we'd have a full party on our hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's  _here_ ," I corrected him. "See the zombies all around us, dude?"

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight. Grover wasn't exactly a fighter in the first place, but in this case, he'd be pure dead weight, harsh as it sounded.

"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia decided. "Four of them. Four of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."

"Agreed," said Zoe, possibly the first time ever that she and Thalia had been accord about something. Shame there was no time to alert the press.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

"Shut up," I muttered back.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but I kept my eyes on the skeletons. I felt myself slip into that zone, where every move was instinctual, and the world was all in slow-motion.

And then I charged.

The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down. I won't say I could see the bullet, but I could  _feel_  its' path. I deflected it off the edge of my blade and kept charging.

The skeleton drew a baton and I sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then I swung Halcyon through his waist and cut him in half.

His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at me and tried to fire, but I knocked his gun into the snow.

The two behind me tried to shoot me in the back, but with a cry from Thalia, I managed to jump aside. One of the bullets tore through my left forearm, but it was a through-and-through. I'd gotten sparring in the arena.

Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoe and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them. Blood poured from my arm, making me dizzy and causing pain to fog my mind.

I deflected another bullet, stumbling and falling. Mental Ana screeched like a banshee in my mind, cursing and demanding I get up. I fumbled for the emergency ambrosia that I kept in my pocket, shoving it into my mouth and struggling to swallow.

There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving. I got to my feet and ducked a police baton. The skeleton I'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, coming after me. The ambrosia had helped a little, though. I could think again, but my mind wasn't giving me much hope for our survival.

There was no way to stop them. Zoe and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and I thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

"I don't know," Bianca answered nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping us at baton's length.

"Plan?" I asked as we retreated.

Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking loudly, the noise making my stress increase.

"A gift," Grover muttered, still dazed.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig I'd ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its' back bristled with brown hair, and its' eyes were wild and angry. I took one look at it and swore violently. Zoe went white with horror.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its' tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. That was the good part, but it was the only good part.

Because that's when the pig turned on us.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover stopped her. "Don't kill it!" he yelled.

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, getting ready to charge at us.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I do not believe that we  _can_  kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover insisted. "A blessing from the Wild!"

What the Hades was  _wrong_  with him?

The boar bellowed out another "REEEEEEET!" and swung its' tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. I had to push Grover to the side so that he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel really blessed!" I snorted. "Scatter!"

We ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia cried.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

It seemed like a fair enough question to me, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was faster than I'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its' hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its' tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

I racked my brain, trying to think of how to deal with it. There was no record of it ever being killed, as far as I knew. But Heracles had managed to subdue it somehow. Though, of course. That was Heracles, and I couldn't remember how he had done it anyway.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia and I won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on us, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defence. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his relatives. The boar charged us.

We only managed to keep ahead of it because we ran uphill, and we could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plough through them.

On the other side of the hill, I found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow.

"This way.'" I grabbed Thalia's arm and we ran along the rails while the boar roared behind us, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its' hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods.

Ahead of us, I saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. I had a crazy idea. It was one that had a high chance of killing us, but it was the only one either of us had.

"Follow me!"

Thalia slowed down—I didn't need to ask why—but I pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind us, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its' hooves as it chased us.

Thalia and I ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

"No!" Thalia screamed.

She'd turned as white as ice. We were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below. For Thalia, who was deathly afraid of heights, it was a nightmare come to life. A monster behind her, and the two of us standing on the edge of a cliff. But now wasn't the time for fear to rule us, cruel as it was. The boar was right behind us.

"Come on!" I said. "It'll hold our weight." I didn't add the 'probably' that went through my thoughts, but I'm sure she knew what I was thinking anyway.

"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.

The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Thalia, we have to!" I pleaded, tugging at her.

She looked down and swallowed. I could see her turning green, and it genuinely broke my heart. But it was our only chance, and I knew it.

The boar was charging through the tunnel, straight toward us. Plan B. I tackled Thalia and sent us both sideways off the edge of the bridge, into the side of the mountain. We slid on Aegis like a snow-board, over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF!

Thalia and I skidded to a stop. We were both breathing hard. I was cut up and bleeding. Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Next to us, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All I could see was the bristly tip of its' back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either.

Thalia and I met each other's gazes, but said nothing. We just rose to our feet and dusted ourselves off.

"Your arm," she muttered instead. Glancing down at it, I saw that the wound had been worsened by the fall. Without a word, I held it out to her so she could begin to tend to it. She fumbled through her pockets for a second before pulling out a small first-aid kit, complete with gauze and ambrosia.

"Helloooooo?" Grover called from above.

"Down here!" I shouted back, as Thalia began wrapping my arm.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, and Grover joined us. We stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree," Zoe nodded. "We must use it."

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. "Explain to me why you're both so sure that this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fast," I guessed wryly, though Grover didn't seem to pick up on my cynicism.

He nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish… I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?"

Grover didn't seem to hear me. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its' back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."

She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of us.

Zoe and Bianca walked toward the boar.

"Wait a second," I said, because I still didn't understand why any of them thought riding a monster would be a good idea under any circumstances. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about—this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong… I never thought that I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

She stared at me like I was an idiot. "The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."


	12. Desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke meets Aphrodite, and the questers meet Talos.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Desert Deaths**

We rode the boar until sunset, which was about as much as I could take. Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was. And I had never been a champion rider.

I have no idea how many miles we covered, but eventually the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until we were galloping across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover informed us as he clambered off awkwardly. "We need to get away while he's eating."

Nobody needed away convincing. We slipped off the boar's back while he was busy munching on the cacti. Then we waddled away as fast as we could with our saddle sores.

After its' third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," I guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia replied. "Look."

Ahead of us was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crookedly above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills… but then I noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Does anybody else have a bad feeling about this?" I muttered warily, eyeing the place suspiciously. I didn't know why, but something about it put me on edge.

To my surprise, Zoe gave a nod of agreement. "I believe that you are correct," she answered, teasing her bow, which had randomly appeared from nowhere again. "There is something in the air that makes me feel wary. We must take care."

"Well, either way, something tells me that we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia sighed. She looked at Graver. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to me, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said, jabbing a finger at said nuts. "Those five nuts right there."

"And?" I pressed him. "What else?"

"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge…"

"Let me guess," I huffed. "Over there." I jerked a thumb toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet. To my utter lack of surprise, Grover nodded, an anxious expression on his face as he confirmed my suspicions.

"Great," Thalia mumbled.

After some debate, we decided to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. It was only logical. After all, monsters are always stronger in the dark, and we were weakened by the lack of proper vision. Going at daylight might delay us, but we'd be better off being slow than being dead. Besides, we had to sleep at  _some_  point. Being human is so inconvenient, Mental Ana snarked, making me bite back a grin.

Zoe and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks and passed them out. The atmosphere was almost amicable, and I began to suspect that I was actually starting to genuinely like Zoe. She really wasn't that bad, now that we had come to a truce of some sort.

The night got chilly fast, so Grover and I collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon we were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe murmured. She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"It's so amazing," Bianca replied, her voice awed. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe declared. "In the old days, there were thousands more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

The way she talked, it was clear that she was not one of said humans. I was curious about what she might really be, but bit back my questions. We were getting along, and with Ana (and Artemis) on the line, I didn't want to risk jeopardizing that.

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover considered. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…"

I was pretty sure that coffee had nothing to do with what had happened in Cloudcroft, but I didn't have the heart to tell Grover. I thought about the rubber rat and the tiny birds that had suddenly come alive when the wind blew.

"Grover, do you really think that was Pan?" I asked gently. "I mean, I know that you that  _want_  it to be him, but it's been thousands of years since he was last heard from. Why would he interfere now?"

"He sent us help," Grover insisted, conviction filling his voice. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

I didn't answer. I didn't want to squash Grover's hopes. But my question remained. Why now, and not before? Was it the Great Stirring?

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," I suggested doubtfully. It didn't seem right though. Something niggled in the back of my mind, something about Grover, Ana and Thalia. And something else about the di'Angelos' facial features. I had seen their features before, I was sure of it.

"It is the same as mine," Zoe dismissed my theory. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," I offered another guess.

I felt a jab of pity as I noticed how uncomfortable Bianca looked with everybody paying attention to her. The others noticed it too.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer eventually. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

I was about to protest that Grover and I had had bad experiences in that town, and this time we wouldn't have Ana to pull our asses out of the fire, but Bianca beat me to it. She jolted upright, looking terrified.

"No!" she exclaimed desperately. "Not there!"

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I… I think we stayed there for a while," she stammered. "Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember…"

I was suddenly hit by a dark suspicion. I remembered what Bianca had told me about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while. Then I thought about the last time I had been in Las Vegas.  _"One guy said it was 1983,"_  Ana's voice, shaky with an adrenaline crash echoed in my memory.  _"He thought that he had been there for about two weeks."_  I met Graver's eyes, and I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.

"Bianca," I said seriously. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "How could you know that?"

I swore. "Gods, Bianca," I groaned. The strange things around the two siblings suddenly made so much more sense, but bits of the puzzle were still missing. How long had they been there for? Why were they there, and who had sent them there in the first place? Why didn't they have any memory?

"Wait," Thalia ordered, holding up her hands and looking confused. "What's the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," I began to explain, "Ana, Grover, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It alters your perception of time. There were people there for decades, and they thought it was only a week or so."

"No," Bianca denied, shaking her head desperately. "No, that's not possible."

"You said that somebody came and got you out," I remembered.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I… I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoe sat forward, her eyebrows knit with concern. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoe interrupted her again, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca scoffed, an edge of hysteria to her tone. She told us the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked.

Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."

Zoe swallowed. Thalia covered her mouth with her hand to hide her gasp, and I continued to think of more and more questions, trying to understand how the two had ended up in the Casino. And why they had come out now, of all times. With the Titans rising, the timing was suspect, at best.

"Theodore or Franklin?" Zoe's voice had a hint of a shake in it, and her dark eyes were wide. Her jaw was tight and her hands were curled into fists. I didn't blame her for it. She was acting better than I would in that situation, that was for sure.

"Franklin," Bianca replied confidently. "F.D.R."

"Bianca," Zoe said slowly, carefully. "F.D.R. was  _not_  the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca gasped. "I… I'm not that old." She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

Thalia's eyes turned sad. I guess she knew what it was like to get pulled out of time for a while. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is that you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" I pressed. "We were only in there for an hour to us and we barely escaped. We wouldn't have managed at all, if Ana wasn't so resistant to mind control. She practically had to drag Grover and I away from the place. How could you have escaped after being there for so long? You didn't even know your heritage back then. You couldn't have broken out of the spell alone."

"I told you." Bianca looked about ready to cry. "A man came and said that it was time to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it? Why then, and not seventy years ago?"

Before she could answer, we were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. We grabbed our sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of us.

The back door of the limo opened right next to me. Before I could step away, the point of a sword touched my throat.

I heard the sound of Zoe and Bianca drawing their bows, and Thalia summoning her spear. As the owner of the sword got out of the car, I moved back very slowly. I had to, because he was pushing the point under my chin.

He smiled cruelly. "Hello again, punk."

"Lord Ares," I spat the name bitterly, old feelings of resentment welling up within me again. "How's the leg?"

His smug expression darkened at the reminder that a twelve-year-old half-blood girl had managed to wound him in battle before, and he growled slightly in warning. "Watch your tone, punk," he warned. "I can't kill his girl without making Uncle P angry, but Hermes' kids are a dime a dozen. He wouldn't even notice."

Like I didn't already know that, I thought scornfully, not speaking.

The war god glanced at my friends. "At ease, people." He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Bianca gasped in shock, casting a worried look at Zoe, looking for instructions. The elder Huntress glowered at him bitterly.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under my chin. "Of course, I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back."

He lowered his sword and pushed me away.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused, blatantly looking her up and down like he had done to Ana when we first met him, making her shiver and glare at him. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she demanded. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Luke a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said. I shot her a look that I hoped communicated my appreciation for her support.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," I told my friends. "I'll handle this."

I tried to sound more confident than I felt, but I don't think Ares was fooled.

"You heard the boy," Ares said. His voice was mocking, and it took all of my self-control not to punch him. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

My friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded me with loathing, then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

When I saw her, my jaw dropped to the floor. I forgot my name. I forgot where I was. I forgot how to speak in complete sentences.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful I'd ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would've lit up the dark side of the moon.

Thinking back on it, I can't tell you who she looked like. Or even what colour her hair or her eyes were. Pick the most beautiful actress you can think of. The goddess was ten times more beautiful than that. Pick your favourite hair colour, eye colour, whatever. The goddess had that.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Ana. Then like this actress I used to have a crush on as a kid. Then… well, you get the idea.

"Ah, there you are, Luke," the goddess smiled. "I am Aphrodite." As if I hadn't already managed to put two-and-two together yet. I had enough thinking ability left to figure  _that_  out at least.

I slipped into the seat across from her and mumbled something that sounded like, "Um uh gah."

Her smile grew larger. "Aren't you sweet. Hold this, please."

She handed me a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had me hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though I couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.

I wanted to respond. Why couldn't I form a complete sentence? She was only a lady. A seriously beautiful lady. With eyes like the sea, same as Ana. They even shifted shades, like Ana's did, turning from a deep navy to a light green. Whoa.

I pinched my own arm, hard.

"I… I don't know," I managed. I struggled to think through the haze my mind had gone into, but I couldn't. Even Mental Ana was silent.

"Oh, dear," Aphrodite clucked her tongue. "Still in denial? Even with my gift?"

"Your gift?"

She waved me off, crossing her legs and shifting them to the side, like we were in the 50s, or something.

"Tell me, Luke," she leaned in, and I began to feel uncomfortable, which allowed my mind to start clearing. She was beautiful, but beauty tended to conceal a monster's evil. When pretty and/or nice strangers started getting in your personal space, every demigod knew to brace for battle, and those ingrained instincts began dampening her effects on my mind.

"Why are you on this quest?"

I avoided meeting her gaze as I replied, least I go into another daze. "I was given the prophecy. Artemis and Ana need to be found."

"Ah yes!" She sounded triumphant, which made me worried. "Ana. Tell me about her, Luke."

"I can't," I answered frankly. "Ana's indescribable."

"How sweet!" she cooed. "You made an oath to protect her, didn't you?"

"Yes," I lifted my chin defensively. "So what?"

"It was absolutely adorable!" Aphrodite declared. "So noble, knowing that she'll probably die young, yet determined to try and save her anyway. Just like Romeo and Juliet!"

"Ana's not gonna die if I have anything to say about it!" I snapped.

"Oh, so sweet," Aphrodite repeated. She waved at the mirror. "Oh, put it down," she ordered. "I look fine."

I hadn't realized I was still holding it, but as soon as I put it down, I noticed my arms were sore. Hey, it was a heavy mirror, alright? Solid gold, with real diamonds embedded in it.

"Now listen to me, Luke," Aphrodite urged. "The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving Ana."

"Do you know where she is?"

Aphrodite waved her hand irritably. "No, no. I leave the details to you. But it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."

"Whoa, what d'you mean tragic?" I demanded, feeling panicked. "Isn't the whole Great Prophecy thing enough?"

"That's all been done before darling," Aphrodite replied dismissively. "But it'll be a good part of proving that love really does conquer all. I mean, just look at Helen and Paris. Did  _they_  let anything come between them?"

"They started the Trojan War and got thousands of people killed!"

"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."

"I don't know where it's going, though," I admitted, feeling uncomfortably vulnerable at doing so.

She smiled sympathetically. She really was beautiful. And not just because she had a pretty face or anything. She believed in love so much, it was impossible not to feel giddy when she talked about it.

"Not knowing is half the fun of being in love," she told me. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."

"No, no," I said, instantly alarmed. I never knew what to do with crying females, mortal or otherwise. "Don't do that."

"And don't worry," she patted my hand. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."

"That's really okay," I told her earnestly. "Don't go to any trouble." Please don't go to any trouble. We got enough of that stuff from the Fates. We didn't need the goddess of love adding to our problems.

"You're so cute. I wish all of my daughters could break the heart of a boy like you." Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's territory, Luke. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."

"What?" I asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"

But the car door opened and Ares grabbed my shoulder, pulling me out of the car and back into the desert night.

My audience with the goddess of love was over.

"You're lucky, punk." Ares pushed me away from the limo. "Be grateful."

"For what?"

"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me—"

"So why haven't you killed me?" I shot back. It was a stupid thing to say to the god of war, but being around him always made me feel angry and reckless. He had frightened and hurt Ana, even if she had never admitted it. I loathed him for that.

Ares nodded, like I'd finally said something intelligent.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Aphrodite thinks that you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Someday soon, kid—real soon—you and that girl of yours are going to raise your swords to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares. Until then… Get lost."

He snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. I fell to the ground.

When I stood up again, the limousine was gone. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. My friends and I were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked, once I'd told them about Aphrodite.

I nearly lied, but decided that a half-truth would be better. "She thinks that Ana and I make a good love story," I confessed. "Says she's going to make it nice and tragic for us. And warned me about her husband's territory."

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "Be careful, Luke," she warned me. "Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite. It's not a good thing that she's taken an interest in you and Ana."

"I know," I agreed. Now that I was away from her, I had regained my senses. And I dreaded finding out what Aphrodite would consider to be 'interesting'. And what was that about a gift?

"So," I said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoe answered, pointing. "That is west."

I double checked her calculations and nodded, hefting my bag into a more comfortable position. "Shall we?"

With an aura of grim determination and resignation hovering around us, we began making our way west again.

"Guys," Grover called after a while, pointing urgently. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca breathed. "That stuff… some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," Thalia confirmed grimly. "This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Don't touch anything," I added. "If it's here, it's cursed or something. There'll be consequences for touching it, even if it is junk."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk?"

He bit off a point and began to chew. "It's delicious!"

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands. "I'm serious!"

"Look!" Bianca called, pointing towards something. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "That's so cool!" she squealed.

"It's like Ana's sword," Thalia commented when we got to her side.

"You have to put it back, Bianca," I added.

"Luke is correct," Zoe agreed. "If it is here, there is something wrong with it."

Bianca gained a mutinous look, clenching her fist around the bow. "I don't-"

"Leave it, Bianca!" Zoe snapped, eyes flashing.

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. As Luke said, if it is here, it is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"I'm with you," I told her. "Let's get the Hades out of this place."

No one protested, and we started picking our way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, we would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

I kept my hands clenched around my sword to keep my klepto urges in check. Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings. Bianca too, kept stopping to examine things, and Zoe continually had to force her to leave them behind.

Finally, we saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of us, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between us and the road…

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

"Nothing good," I drawled, eyeing the thing tensely.

Ahead of us was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Grover stated.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe, Thalia and I all exchanged nervous looks. If this was what I thought it was, we could be in a lot of trouble.

"Let's go around," Thalia decided. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," Bianca protested. "It'd be quicker to just climb over it instead."

Ping.

I raised my sword while Thalia hefted her spear and Zoe drew her bow, but then I realized it was only Grover. He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?"

My temper flared, and I glared at him. "What the Hades, Grover?" I snapped. "Are you trying to get us killed? This is the gods' junkyard! That's probably an automaton! A dangerous robot!"

He paled and swallowed, looking at the ground.

"Come on." Thalia looked at Bianca and Grover sternly.

" _Around_." I emphasized, still eyeing the giant toes.

After several minutes of walking, we finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe sighed. "Thank the gods."

But she had spoken too soon. At that very moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal.

I whirled around. Behind us, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and we found herself under the shadow of the largest automaton I'd ever seen. It was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armour. He was impossibly tall—like a skyscraper with legs and arms. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at us, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armoured chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

I swore violently. Even Ana, who had a hobby of learning to curse in other languages (English, Greek-modern and ancient, Latin, as well as French, Spanish and German from Silena and Lou Ellen respectively), would have been impressed by my vocabulary.

"Who—who's Talos?" Bianca stuttered, looking terrified.

"One of Hephaestus's creations," Thalia explained. "But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model."

Talos didn't like being called 'defective' apparently.

He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its' sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but I didn't figure that mattered. Getting hit with that thing would be like getting hit with a battleship.

"Someone took something," Zoe declared. "Who took something?"

She stared accusingly at me.

I shook my head. "I admit I was tempted by a few things, but I'm not an idiot. I don't steal from the gods. Ever."

Bianca didn't say anything, but I could see guilt flashing over her expression and I knew what she had done. But I had no time to do anything about it, because the giant defective Talos took one step toward us, closing half the distance and making the ground shake.

"Run!" Grover yelped.

Great advice, except that it was hopeless. At a leisurely stroll, this thing could outdistance us easily.

We split up, the way we'd done with the Nemean Lion. Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's path. Thankfully, she was resistant to electricity, and simply ignored the sparks.

Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but they just shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal.

Bianca and I ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot.

"You took something," I accused, in what was probably a harsher tone than was truly necessary. "That bow."

"No!" she denied, but her voice was quivering. Oh yeah, she had stolen something. Despite the warnings Thalia, Zoe and I had all given of the dangers of the junkyard, she had arrogantly ignored us and taken something she wanted. And endangered all of our lives in the process.

I glared furiously at her, making her flinch and let out a sob. I had no sympathy.

"Give it back!" I snapped. "Throw it down!"

"I… I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."

"What did you take?"

Before she could answer, I heard a massive creaking noise, and a shadow blotted out the sky.

"Move!" I tore down the hill, Bianca right behind me, as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where we'd been hiding.

"Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled, but the automaton just ignored him and raised his sword, looking down at Bianca and me.

Grover played a quick melody on his pipes. Over at the highway, the downed power lines began to dance. I understood what Grover was going to do a split second before it happened. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew toward Talos' back leg and wrapped around his calf The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside.

Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking. Grover had managed to buy us a few seconds to escape, thank the gods.

"Come on!" I told Bianca, tugging her arm. But she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine, a statue of a god.

"It… it was for Nico," she stammered. "It was the only statue he didn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" I demanded.

There were tears in her eyes.

"Throw it down," I ordered. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone." Small chance, but a chance all the same.

She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened.

The giant kept coming after Grover. It stabbed its' sword into a junk hill, missing Grover by a few feet, but scrap metal made an avalanche over him, and then I couldn't see him anymore.

"No!" Thalia yelled. She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the monster in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed, but immediately started to rise again. It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. There weren't any emotions in its' half-melted face, but I got the sense that it was about as ticked off as a twenty-story-tall metal warrior could be.

He raised his foot to stomp and I saw that his sole was treaded like the bottom of a sneaker. There was a hole in his heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which I deciphered only after the foot came down: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

Mental Ana lit up, shouting out a plan that was so very her, it almost made me think my conscience was really her. "Crazy-idea time," I announced.

Bianca looked at me nervously. "Anything."

I told her about the maintenance hatch. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its' foot! You'll be crushed!"

"Distract it," I shrugged. "I'll just have to time it right." I'd probably die in the process, but my friends would escape. At eighteen, I'd already lasted longer than most half-bloods, anyway. I'd had a good run. I just wished that I could have seen Ana again, and known that she was safe. She was gonna be so upset, and the thought of it made my heart ache. I hated when she was upset.

Bianca's jaw tightened. "No. I'll go."

"You can't. You're new at this! You'll die."

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she insisted. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into my hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry."

"Bianca, no!"

But she wasn't waiting for me. She charged at the monster's left foot.

Thalia had its' attention for the moment. She'd learned that the giant was big but slow. If you could stay close to it and not get smashed, you could run around it and stay alive. At least, it was working so far.

Bianca got right next to the giant's foot, trying to balance herself on the metal scraps that swayed and shifted with his weight.

Zoe yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its' foot!" she called back.

Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril.

The giant straightened and shook its' head.

"Hey, Bin Boy!" I yelled. "Down here."

I ran up to its' big toe and stabbed it with Halcyon. The magic blade cut a gash in the bronze.

Unfortunately, my plan worked. Talos looked down at me and raised his foot to squash me like a bug. I didn't see what Bianca was doing. I had to turn and run. The foot came down about two inches behind me and I was knocked into the air. I hit something hard and sat up, dazed. I'd been thrown into an Olympus-Air refrigerator.

The monster was about to finish me off, but Grover had somehow managed to dig himself out of the junk pile. He played his pipes frantically, and his music sent another power line pole whacking against Talos' thigh. The monster turned. Grover should've run, but he must've been too exhausted from the effort of so much magic. He took two steps, fell, and didn't get back up.

"Grover!" Thalia and I both ran toward him, but I knew we'd be too late.

The monster raised his sword to smash Grover. Then he froze.

Talos cocked his head to one side, like he was hearing strange new music. He started moving his arms and legs in weird ways, doing a very jerky dance routine that would have made me laugh in any other circumstances. Then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go, Bianca!" I cheered, caught up in the moment and unthinking of what it meant that my plan had worked.

Zoe looked horrified. "She is inside?" My grin fell as I realized the direness of Bianca's situation.

The monster staggered around, and I knew that we were still in danger. Thalia and I grabbed Grover and ran with him toward the highway. Zoe was already ahead of us. "How will Bianca get out?" She yelled.

The giant hit itself in the head again and dropped his sword. A shudder ran through his whole body and he staggered toward the power lines.

"Look out!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The giant's ankle snared the lines, and blue flickers of electricity shot up his body. I hoped the inside was insulated. I had no idea what was going on in there. I could only hope for a miracle, and that Bianca was safe, though I knew it was too much to ask. The giant careened back into the junkyard, and his right hand fell off, landing in the scrap metal with a horrible CLANG!

His left arm came loose, too. He was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" Zoe shouted. We ran after him, but there was no way we could keep up. Pieces of the robot kept falling off, getting in our way.

The giant crumbled from the top down: his head, his chest, and finally, his legs collapsed. When we reached the wreckage we searched frantically, yelling Bianca's name. We crawled around in the vast hollow pieces and the legs and the head. We searched until the sun started to rise, but no luck.

Zoe sat down and wept. I was stunned to see her cry.

Thalia screamed in rage and impaled her sword in the giant's smashed face.

I sat down and buried my head in my hands. "It should've been me," I muttered, guilt-ridden. "It was my plan. It should've been me."

"No," Grover croaked, his face stained with tears. "It happened just like it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

He looked up at me with big watery eyes. "The prophecy.  _One shall be lost in the land without rain_."

Why hadn't I seen it? Why had I let her go instead of me?

Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di'Angelo was gone.


	13. Dam RED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The questers arrive at Hoover Dam, still reeling from Bianca's death.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Dam Fights and RED Girls**

At the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so we decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as Zoe or Grover. Usually, I wouldn't have taken this so badly. I had seen so many losses already over my life, usually it barely blipped my radar (unless I was particularly close to them, of course). But the thing was that I had argued with Bianca, right before she sacrificed herself to save us. I had considered her selfish and she had proved to be anything but. And now she was dead, and I could never apologize.

"The skeletons are still out there," Thalia reminded us as I hotwired the truck. "We need to keep moving."

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

My hand closed around the little figurine that had cost her life. I couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.

Oh, gods… what was I going to tell Nico? He was going to be devastated. I had never had to tell someone that their only family was dead before.

"It should've been me," I said, feeling guilt-stricken. "I should've been the one to go into the giant."

After all, Bianca had known about this world for only a few days. I had known for years, and at eighteen, I was hitting the expiry date for a half-blood. Bianca had so much life left to live. I knew that soon enough I would have to suppress my guilt and grief, but I decided that I to wait a little while. Bianca was a good person and she deserved to be mourned.

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough that Ana's gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if…" He sniffled. "I can't lose anybody else, Luke. I'm not strong enough."

"Ah, Grover…" I reached out to grasp his shoulder, my throat tight.

He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm… I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. I was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling. If only Ana were there, she would have known what to say, how to help him. And not just because of their empathy link, but because that was who Ana was. But she wasn't here, and I needed to focus on getting her back.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great," she hissed, scowling bitterly. "What now?"

I scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.

"There's a path," Grover pointed out. "We could get to the river."

I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," I said.

"So?" he asked.

"So, the rest of us aren't goats," my voice was dry and I gave him a replica of Ana's 'are you kidding me?' stare. He didn't notice, having already started for the path.

"We can make it," he insisted. "I think."

I thought about that. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights… she'd never be able to do it.

"No," I decided. "I think we should go farther upstream."

"But—" Grover began to protest.

I shot him a steely look, silently reminding him who the leader of the quest was. "Come on," I said firmly. "A walk won't hurt us."

I glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick "Thank you". I gave her a half-smile and left it at that.

We followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but I left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes on Mental Ana's urging. This whole having Ana as my conscience thing was starting to get frustrating. Who ever heard of a son of Hermes apologizing for stealing something?

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since the junkyard, and Mental Ana fussed about her about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. "We shall have to paddle."

"The rapids don't seem too bad, at least," I muttered as I helped Grover to carry the canoes over and put them in the water.

Thalia pulled me aside as we were getting the oars. "Thanks for back there."

"Don't mention it."

She nodded, exhaling heavily. "Would you take Zoe?" she asked. "I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her."

"She's not going to like that," I warned.

"Please?" Thalia begged. "I don't know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She's… she's starting to worry me."

It was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I nodded. If Zoe was so bad that Thalia was starting to worry about her... At least I had Mental Ana for guidance on what to say, even if I'd prefer the real one.

Thalia's shoulders relaxed. "I owe you one."

"Two." I joked, shooting her a grin. She smirked back, though I'm sure the tired strain in her eyes only echoed my own.

"One and a half," she said, before she turned and helped Grover get their canoe into the water.

As it turned out, we didn't even need to worry about paddling. As soon as we got in the river, I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me.

They looked like regular teenage girls, except for the fact that they were underwater. Ana loved chatting with the naiads at camp. She got very annoyed when people implied that they were shallow. Said that they had 'hidden depths' (no pun intended. Seriously, she  _will_ punch you for laughing at the expression) and were very kind. I figured I could see if that kindness applied to all naiads, or just the ones at Camp.

"Hey," I said, giving them a flirtatious smile.

"What're you doing?" Thalia asked while the water spirits made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling, though I wasn't sure.

"We're heading upstream," I told them, ignoring Thalia. "Do you think that you girls could—"

Before I could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing us up the river. We started so fast that Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled from behind me.

A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.

"Whoa," I said, reaching back to stop her. "They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?" And did it have anything to do with my dream?

She slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

We sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us.

"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault," I told her eventually. "It was my fault. I came up with the plan, and I let her go. I was the quest leader. I should've been the one to go, not her."

Her shoulders slumped. "No, Luke. It was not your fault. It was mine. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I… I thought she would be the next lieutenant."

"But you're the lieutenant." It was a foolish, naïve sentence. I knew perfectly well that everybody died eventually, even the Hunters. But Zoe was one of those things that seemed like they'd stay the same forever. I couldn't imagine the Hunt without her.

She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than I'd ever seen her. "Nothing can last forever, Luke, you know that as well as I. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Lady Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that," I insisted. "There was nothing you could have done, even if you were there. The monster she was hunting was strong enough to defeat the Goddess of Hunting herself. If you were there, maybe things would have turned out worse because she was concentrating on protecting you. Her being captured was not your fault, Zoe. I know it wasn't."

Zoe didn't answer.

The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the photo of Ana with Anaklusmos, and passed it back to her. "You made that sword, didn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question, really.

"Who told thee?"

"I had a dream about it."

She studied me. I was sure she was going to snap at me for intruding into her business, but she just sighed and handed the picture back again. "It was a gift. And a mistake."

"Who was the hero?" I asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore that I would never speak it again."

"You act like I should know him." I frowned, running a list of heroes through my mind. _"All as womanizing as their godly fathers are, of course,"_  Mental Ana snarked bitterly in my mind. I grimaced in agreement. Nowadays, we weren't so bad. But back in the Ancient Days? It was disgusting how badly women were treated, it really was.

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?"

Her voice was so bitter, I decided not to press. I looked down at the photo, and for the first time, I wondered if the sword really was cursed. And what it meant for Ana, to carry it.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" I asked.

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"The girls who live in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it. Yeah, I met your sisters." My voice was flat as I remembered my trip to the Garden. Without realizing, I reached up to rub at the scar that slashed over my face, feeling it itch in remembrance.

I felt Zoe's gaze on me, but she didn't ask about my quest. She talked about the damn dragon instead, and I tried to block out the memories that threatened to blot out my awareness of the world as I listened to her.

"His name is Ladon," Zoe told me, her voice wistful. "I helped to raise him, fed and tended him as if he were my child."

"The stories only mention four sisters," I commented carefully, guessing what must have happened from what she had said already.

"There are now." Her tone was dead as she spoke. "I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?"

Zoe pointed to my photo. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

"Heracles."

Before Zoe could confirm my suspicion, the naiad gurgled loudly to gain my attention. The canoe was slowing down.

I looked ahead, and I saw why.

This was as far as they could take us. The river was blocked. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in our path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia declared. "It's huge."

We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like flies.

The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling—not in words I could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking up their nice river. Our canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall," I announced. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia continued.

Grover sighed as he finished of the impromptu mini-lecture. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," I said the name woodenly. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia added, her gaze fixed on the ground. "Even as a little girl. She loved to tell us these random facts about different things and places."

"Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

We nodded. Zoe was still looking at us strangely, but I didn't care. It seemed like cruel fate that we'd come to Hoover Dam, that Annabeth had always wanted to visit. Did she still want to visit it? I wondered silently to myself. Did she still want to build something that would last millennia? Or was the destruction of Western Civilization her only desire?

"I want to go up there," Thalia declared suddenly, her jaw tight.

"Thalia-" I began, not even sure what it was that I wanted to say.

"You are mad," Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

We had to walk for almost an hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but I knew from experience that he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" I asked him lowly.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us… the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

I didn't either. It was already Wednesday, only two days until winter solstice, and we still had a long way to go. We didn't need any more monsters, making things harder and delaying us.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor centre," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" I asked, surprised. Certainly not with me, and I didn't remember her ever mentioning having been either.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia explained. "A gift to him from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" I wondered.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they do anything?" I didn't want to ask, but if it turned out that they were automatons, we could be in trouble.

Thalia's expression darkened. I could tell that she'd come here before hoping for exactly that—some kind of sign from her dad. Some connection. And, of course, it was futile. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

Maybe it was the fact that we were so tired and strung out emotionally, but I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at us. "I do not understand."

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover chuckled.

"And…" Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

I busted up, and I probably would've kept laughing hysterically all day, but then I heard a noise: "Moooo."

The smile melted off my face. I wondered if the noise was just in my head, but Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused. "Did I just hear a cow?"

"I think so," I agreed, eyeing the place warily. "Anybody able to think of any type of cow-related monsters?"

"I did not hear anything," Zoe offered, though she still scanned the area carefully.

"I didn't either," Thalia added.

"Must've been nothing then," I murmured. "You guys go and get some food, I'll just do a sweep and meet you in the snack bar."

They nodded and headed for the visitor centre while I wandered over to the edge of the dam. And when I looked over the railing, there it was.

The same cow-serpent thing that I had seen while walking along the beach the day we left, was splashing around in the river, trying to get my attention.

"Moo!" Her (Mental Ana was calling her Bessie, so I just went with it) voice was urgent, like she was trying to warn me of something.

"How did you get here?" I asked. We were thousands of miles from Long Island, hundreds of miles inland. There was no way she could've swum all the way here. And yet, here she was.

Bessie swam in a circle and butted her head against the side of the dam. "Moo!"

She wanted me to come with her. She was telling me to hurry.

"I can't," I told her. "My friends are inside."

She looked at me with sad brown eyes. Then she gave one more urgent "Mooo!," did a flip, and disappeared into the water.

I hesitated. Something was wrong. She was trying to tell me that. I debated what to do, but then I was distracted from thoughts of Bessie. The hairs on my arms started to bristle. I looked down the dam road to the east and I saw two men walking slowly toward me. They wore grey camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies.

They passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, "Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull.

"Ah!" the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away.

I ran for the visitor centre to get to the others.

I was almost to the stairs when I heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly ploughing into some old people.

The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. I was surrounded.

I bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled, "Hey, kid!" But I didn't stop.

I ran through the exhibits and ducked behind a tour group. I looked for my friends, but I couldn't see them anywhere. Where was the dam snack bar?

"Stop!" The metal-detector guy yelled.

There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. I ducked inside just as the door closed.

"We'll be going down about seven hundred feet," our tour guide said cheerfully. He was a park ranger, with black hair like a surfer's and tinted glasses. I guess he hadn't noticed that I was being chased. "Don't worry, everybody, the elevator only breaks on Thursdays." He gave a cheerful chuckle and the tourists laughed back.

"Does this go to the snack bar?" I asked him.

A few people behind me laughed again. The tour guide looked at me. Something about his gaze made my skin tingle.

"To the turbines, kid," he replied. "Weren't you listening?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?"

"It's a dead end," a tourist behind me said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator."

The doors opened.

"Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor."

I didn't have much choice but to go out with the group.

"And kid," the tour guide called. I looked back. He'd taken off his sunglasses. His eyes were sea green. Just like Ana's typically were. A colour that she had inherited from her father. Though sometimes they changed shades, sea green was their default colour, for lack of another word. "There's always another way out."

The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving me alone.

Before I could think too much about the man in the elevator, a ding came from around the corner. The second elevator was opening, and I heard an unmistakable sound—the clattering of skeleton teeth.

I ran after the tour group, through a tunnel carved out of solid rock. It seemed to run forever. The walls were moist, and the air hummed with electricity and the roar of water. I came out on a U-shaped balcony that overlooked this huge warehouse area. Fifty feet below, enormous turbines were running. It was a big room, but I didn't see any other exit, unless I wanted to jump into the turbines and get churned up to make electricity. I didn't.

Another tour guide was talking over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada. I prayed that Thalia, Zoe, and Grover were okay. They might already be captured, or eating at the snack bar, completely unaware that we were being surrounded. Meanwhile I, in a fit of utter stupidity, had trapped myself in a hole hundreds of feet below the surface.

I worked my way around the crowd, trying not to be too obvious about it. There was a hallway at the other side of the balcony—maybe some place I could hide. I kept my hand on Halcyon, ready to strike.

By the time I got to the opposite side of the balcony, my nerves were shot. I backed into the little hallway and watched the tunnel I'd come from. Mental Ana was having a fit in the back of mind about how screwed we were.

Then right behind me I heard a sharp Chhh! like the voice of a skeleton.

Without thinking, I spun, slashing with my sword.

The girl I'd just tried to slice in half yelped and dropped her Kleenex.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked furiously. Oddly, she seemed more indignant than frightened. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?"

The first thing that went through my head was that the sword hadn't hurt her. It had passed clean through her body, harmlessly. "You're mortal!"

She looked at me in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I'm mortal! How did you get that sword past security?"

"I didn't—Wait, you can see it's a sword?"

The girl rolled her eyes, which were green like Ana's. But it was a grass green like most mortals had, instead of Ana's vivid sea-coloured eyes that changed shades. She had frizzy reddish-brown hair. Her nose was also red, like she had a cold. She wore a big maroon Harvard sweatshirt and jeans that were covered with marker stains and little holes, like she spent her free time poking them with a fork.

"Well, it's either a sword or the biggest toothpick in the world," she said. "And why didn't it hurt me? I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you?"

She asked so many questions so fast, it was like she was throwing rocks at me. I couldn't think of what to say. I knew the skeleton warriors were still chasing me. I had no time to waste. But I just stared at the redheaded girl in shock, Mental Ana snapping at the back of my mind about men being idiots.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "How could you see through the Mist? That shouldn't be possible!"

She huffed indignantly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. What's the Mist and why shouldn't I be able to see through it? If you don't start answering me, I'm going to scream for security."

"No!" I cried. "I mean, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm in trouble."

"In a hurry or in trouble?"

"I'm in a hurry, because I'm in trouble!"

She started to say something else, but then she looked over my shoulder and her eyes widened. "Bathroom!"

"What?"

"Bathroom! Behind me! Now!"

I don't know why, but I listened to her. I slipped inside the boys' bathroom and left Rachel Elizabeth Dare standing outside. Later, that seemed cowardly to me. I'm also pretty sure it saved my life.

I heard the clattering, hissing sounds of skeletons as they came closer.

My grip tightened on Halcyon. What was I thinking? I'd left a defenceless mortal girl out there to die. I was preparing to burst out and fight when Rachel Elizabeth Dare started talking in that rapid-fire machine gun way of hers.

"Oh my god! Did you see that guy? It's about time you got here. He tried to kill me! He had a sword, for god's sake. You security guys let a sword-swinging lunatic inside a national landmark? I mean, jeez! He ran that way toward those turbine thingies. I think he went over the side or something. Maybe he fell."

The skeletons clattered excitedly. I heard them moving off.

Rachel opened the door. "All clear. But you'd better hurry."

She looked shaken. Her face was grey and sweaty.

I peeked around the corner. Three skeleton warriors were running toward the other end of the balcony. The way to the elevator was clear for a few seconds.

"I owe you one, RED."

"Don't call me RED," she ordered before continuing quickly. "What are those things? They looked like—"

"Skeletons?"

She nodded uneasily.

"Do yourself a favour," I replied seriously. "Forget it. Forget you ever saw me."

" _How very movie-esque"_  Mental Ana snarked.  _"Shut up"_ I thought back as Rachel stared incredulously at me.

"Forget that you tried to kill me?"

"That was an accident," I told her smoothly. "But yeah. That, too."

"But who are you?"

"Luke—" I started to say. Then the skeletons turned around. "Gotta go!"

"What kind of name is Luke Gotta-go?"

I bolted for the exit.

The cafe was packed with kids enjoying the best part of the tour—the dam lunch. Thalia, Zoe, and Grover were just sitting down with their food.

"We need to leave," I gasped. "Now!"

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia complained.

Zoe stood up, muttering an Ancient Greek curse. "He's right! Look."

The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeletal army that had come to kill us.

I counted two on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to Arizona. Three more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them were armed with batons and pistols.

But our immediate problem was a lot closer. The three skeletal warriors who'd been chasing me in the turbine room now appeared on the stairs. They saw me from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth.

"Elevator!" Grover said. We bolted that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had blasted to flames in New Mexico. We were completely surrounded.

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea.

"Burrito fight!" he yelled, and then he flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton. It was a perfect bullseye.

Now, if you have never been hit by a flying burrito, count yourself lucky. In terms of deadly projectiles, it's right up there with grenades and cannonballs. Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders. I'm not sure what the other kids in the cafe saw, but they went crazy and started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming at the top of their lungs.

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Thalia and I tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then we all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past our heads.

"What now?" Grover asked as we burst outside.

I didn't have an answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from either direction. We ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged bronze statues, but that just put our backs to the mountain.

The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around us. Their brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its' skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages. None of them looked happy about it. They drew their batons and advanced.

"Four against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And  _they_  cannot die."

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling.

Something shiny caught the corner of my eye. I glanced behind me at the statue's feet. "Whoa," I mumbled. "Their toes really are bright."

"Luke!" Thalia said. "This isn't the time."

But I couldn't help staring at the two giant bronze guys with tall bladed wings like letter openers. They were weathered brown except for their toes, which shone like new pennies from all the times people had rubbed them for good luck.

Good luck. The blessing of Zeus.

I thought about the tour guide in the elevator. His sea-green eyes and his smile. Both of them so like Ana's eyes and smile. What had he said? There is always another way out.

"Thalia," I said. "Pray to your dad."

She glared at me. "He never answers."

"Just this once," I pleaded. "Ask for help. I think… I think the statues can help us."

Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifty feet away. Forty feet.

"Do it!" I yelled.

"No!" Thalia refused. "He won't answer me."

"This time is different!"

"Who says?"

I hesitated. "Poseidon, I think."

Thalia scowled like she was sure that I'd gone crazy.

"Try it," Grover pleaded.

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. I put in my own prayer to Ana's father, hoping I was right that it had been him in that elevator—that he was trying to help us save his only mortal daughter.

And nothing happened.

The skeletons closed in. I raised Halcyon to defend myself. Thalia held up her shield. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head.

A shadow fell over me. Mental Ana suggested that it was the shadow of death. Then I realized it was the shadow of an enormous wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside.

The other skeletons opened fire. I summoned Ana's battered shield for protection, but I didn't need it. The bronze angels stepped in front of us and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn't had a drink since he'd been built.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those crazy tourists thinking?"

As stunned as I was by the angels, I was more concerned with the skeletons. A few of them were getting up again, their bodies reassembling as their bony hands groped for their weapons.

"Trouble!" I warned.

"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled.

Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus's kid?"

"Yes!"

"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus' Kid?" an angel asked.

"Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

And the next thing I knew, one of them grabbed Thalia and me, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover, and we flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below us and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.


	14. Sea Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke captures Nereus.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Okay, who thinks I should do alternating POVs for BotL and TLO? If majority rules that way by the end of this book, then Luke and Ana will both tell the last two parts of the series.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Meeting the Santa of the Sea**

"Tell me when it's over," Thalia said. Her eyes were shut tight. The statue was holding on to us so we couldn't fall, but Thalia still clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world, and she was entrusted with its' protection.

"Everything's fine," I promised her, calling on all of my not-inconsiderable ability to lie to make myself sound believable.

"Are… are we very high?"

I looked down. Below us, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. I stretched out my foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks.

"Nah," I said, as casually as I could. "Not that high." On the bright side, I had my winged shoes on. And automatons couldn't get tired, right? Please don't let them drop us, I prayed to the gods in general. Ana would never let me live it down (so to speak).

"We are in the Sierras.'" Zoe yelled. She and Grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

"Hey, hey, 'Frisco!" our angel called. "Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!"

"Oh, man," the other angel laughed. "I am so there!"

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" I asked, bemused.

"We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" our statue said. "Those mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—"

"Hank!" the other statue Chuck cut in. "They're kids, man." Oh, gods. That gave me seriously disturbing images. I so didn't want to know. Ever.

"Oh, right." If bronze statues could blush, I swear Hank did. "Back to flying."

We sped up, so I knew that the angels were excited. The mountains fell away into hills, and then we were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways.

Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as we flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store—and we passed dozens of them—she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour. I entertained myself with having a silent debate with Mental Ana over which band was better, Nickelback or Queen. Ana was Nickelback all the way, but I put up a good defence for Queen.

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying.

"How did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway?" she asked after a while. "You said that they cornered you."

I told her about the mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who was one of the few mortals to be able to see right through the Mist. I'd been too distracted to understand at the time, but I realized that she was one of them now. Like my mother had been, only she'd gone mad from the strain of seeing the true world.

Thalia nodded. "Must be nice to be a regular mortal." She said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought. Probably had. I certainly a lot thought about what a wonderful life it must be, to have things like dating and SATs as your worst problems. But still, if I wasn't a half-blood, I wouldn't have my siblings, my friends. Ana. A conundrum.

"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked, waking me up from a much-needed nap I had unintentionally fallen into.

I looked down. "Whoa," I muttered at the sight.

I'd seen San Francisco in pictures before, but never in real life. I'd learned early on that it was monster central when I was on the streets, so I'd avoided pretty much the entire East Coast as much as I could.

But I had to admit, it was probably the most beautiful city I'd ever seen: a bit like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. There was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog.

" _ **Buy a postcard and send it home,"**_ Mental Ana suggested.  _ **"Greetings from Frisco. Haven't Died Yet. Wish You Were Here."**_ Good one, I thought back, smirking. Mental Ana was as hilariously sarcastic as Real Ana.

"There," Zoe suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said, nodding in approval. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."

We all looked at him blankly.

"Kidding," he huffed. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humour anymore?"

As it turned out, there wasn't much need to blend in. It was early morning and not many people were around. We freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when we landed. He screamed when he saw Hank and Chuck and ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars.

Aliens'd be a helluva easier to deal with then my reality.

We said our good-byes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends. That's when I realized I had no idea what we were going to do next.

We'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis was here somewhere. Ana too, I hoped. But I had no idea how to find them, and tomorrow was the winter solstice. Nor did I have any clue what monster Artemis had been hunting. It was supposed to find us on the quest. It was supposed to "show the trail," but it never had. Now we were stuck on the ferry dock with not much money, no friends, and no luck.

After a brief discussion, we agreed that we needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.

"But how?" I wondered, running a hand through my hair.

"Nereus," Grover said.

I looked at him. "What?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

I nodded. I'd completely forgotten my last conversation with the sun god. (Partially on purpose. I tried to block meeting any Olympians from my mind, for the sake of my fragile sanity.)

The old man of the sea," I remembered. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"I don't recognize the name," I admitted. "Think I've heard of him, but I can't remember the details." There were so many monsters and myths. Too many to keep track of them all.

"Zoe, you know him?" Thalia asked.

"My mother was a sea goddess," Zoe sniffed. "Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" I asked warily.

"Come," she replied without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

I knew I was in trouble the moment that we stopped at the Goodwill drop box. Five minutes later, Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.

"Oh, yeah," Grover snickered, trying not to bust out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."

Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

"Thanks a lot," I grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

"I told thee. To blend in."

"For Ana," Grover added. I sighed and gave in. I would do anything for Ana.

She led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.

"He will be down there somewhere," Zoe declared. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell… different."

"Great." I didn't want to ask for particulars. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she instructed me. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

"We've got your back," Thalia inserted. She picked something off the back of my shirt—a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought… I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Grover gave me a big thumbs-up.

I grumbled how nice it was to have super-powerful friends. Then I headed toward the dock. Time to get this over with. It's all for Ana, I reminded myself as I pulled my hat down and stumbled like I was about to pass out, which wasn't hard considering how tired I was, nap or no nap. I passed our homeless friend from the Embarcadero, who was still trying to warn the other guys about the metal angels from Mars.

He didn't smell good, but he didn't smell… different. I kept walking.

A couple of grimy dudes with plastic grocery bags for hats checked me out as I came close.

"Beat it, kid!" one of them muttered.

I moved away. They smelled pretty bad, but just regular old bad. Nothing unusual.

There was a lady with a bunch of plastic flamingos sticking out of a shopping cart. She glared at me like I was going to steal her birds or something. Granted, she was right to be suspicious, as I had just snatched a pack of cigarettes and a lighter off one of the guys. I lit one as I continued to wander around the pier.

At the end of the pier, a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pajamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

And his smell?

As I got closer, I froze. He smelled bad, all right—but ocean bad. Like hot seaweed and dead fish and brine. Completely unlike Ana, who smelled of salt water, narcissus and water lilies. She was the embodiment of the good side of the sea, and this guy was her complete opposite, the ocean's ugly side.

I tried not to gag as I sat down near him like I was tired. Santa opened one eye suspiciously. I could feel him staring at me, but I didn't look. I muttered something about stupid school and stupid parents, figuring that might sound reasonable. That was the type of drama that made mortal teenagers run away, wasn't it? Not insane mothers spewing green smoke, gripping their shoulders and screaming about their kids having some grim fate.

He went back to sleep.

I tensed. I knew this was going to look strange. I didn't know how the other homeless people would react. But I jumped the man anyway.

"Ahhhhh!" he screamed. I meant to grab him, but he seemed to grab me instead. It was as if he had never been asleep at all. He certainly didn't act like a weak old man. He had a grip like steel. "Help me!" he screamed as he tried to squeeze me to death. I put up a fight though, punching and kicking, swearing like a sailor.

"That's a crime!" one of the other homeless guys yelled. "Kid rolling an old man like that!"

I rolled, all right—straight down the pier until my head slammed into a post. I was dazed for a second, and Nereus' grip slackened. He was making a break for it. Before he could, I regained my senses and tackled him from behind.

"I don't have any money!" He tried to get up and run, but I locked my arms around his chest. His rotten fish smell was awful, but I held on.

"I don't want money," I snapped as he continued to fight against me. "I'm a half-blood! I want information."

That just made him struggle harder. "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because you know everything!"

He growled and tried to shake me off his back. It was like holding on to a roller coaster. He thrashed around, making it impossible for me to keep on my feet, but I gritted my teeth and squeezed tighter. We staggered toward the edge of the pier and I got an idea.

"Maia!" I yelled, and we went shooting up into the air, while I wrapped an arm around his throat. The mortals screamed and ran off in fear while my friends ran down the steps from the pier.

"You got him!" Zoe exclaimed.

"You don't have to sound so amazed," I huffed. Nereus had finally given up fighting now that we were in the air, but he had slumped and become deadweight in my arms, causing me to pant breathlessly as I tried to keep from dropping him.

Nereus moaned. "Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," I answered.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

I looked at my friends.

This wasn't good. I needed to find Artemis, and I needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was. I also needed to know if Ana was still alive, and how to rescue her. How could I ask that all in one question?

A voice inside me was screaming 'Ask about Ana!' That's what I cared about most.

But then I imagined what she would say if she ever found out.

" _ **The monster, Luke,"**_ Mental Ana whispered to me. _ **"It's the most important thing right now, and you know it. More than me or Artemis."**_

Mental Ana was right. I sighed in resignation. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."

The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth.

"Oh, that's too easy," he replied evilly. "He's right there."

Nereus pointed to the water below us.

"Where?" I demanded.

"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and fell into the sea.

"You tricked me!" I yelled.

"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"

"MOOOOOOOO!"

I looked down, and there was my friend the cow serpent, swimming next to the dock. She mooed again and gave me the sad brown eyes.

"Ah, Bessie," I sighed. "Not now."

Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"You can understand her… er, him?"

Grover nodded. "It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says that his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"Serpent bull in Greek," Thalia noted.

"Very descriptive," I muttered. "But why's s-he following me?"

"Moooooooo!"

"He says that Luke is linked to his protector," Grover announced.

"And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."

"Wait," Zoe said, looking at me. "You know this cow?"

I was feeling impatient, but I explained it to them anyway.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"He's harmless!" I insisted. "And anyway, what did he mean, linked to his protector? Who's his protector?"

"Moo."

Grover's eyes widened and he swallowed. "Ana is, apparently."

"Shit," Thalia muttered.

"I am a fool," Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My… my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" I looked down at the bull serpent. "But… he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"That is how we were wrong," Zoe said. "We have been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"MMMM," Bessie lowed.

"I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said.

I floated down and patted Bessie on the head, trying to calm him down. He let me scratch his ear, but he was trembling.

"How could anyone hurt him?" I wondered. "He's harmless."

Zoe nodded. "But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its' entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods."

"MMMMMM!"

"Um," Grover said. "Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too."

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods… how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.

Thalia's expression worried me. She almost looked… hungry. And when I took into account her fatal flaw of power hunger, I got a sick feeling in my gut.

"We have to protect him," I told her. "If Annabeth and Ethan get their hands on him, they'll-"

"They won't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's… that's huge."

"Yes, it is, my dear," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power you shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.

I looked up. We'd been so busy talking, we'd allowed ourselves to be ambushed.

Standing behind us, his two-colour eyes gleaming wickedly, was Doctor Thorn, the manticore himself.

"This is just pairrr-fect," the manticore gloated.

He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn't shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically, he didn't look much better than the homeless guys at the pier.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," the manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honour me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

On either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries I'd seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case we tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around—walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above us—but I knew that wouldn't stop the manticore from acting.

"Where are the skeletons?" I asked the manticore.

He sneered. "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

I needed time to think. I had to save Bessie. I could grab her out of the sea and fly off, but how far could I get with a five-hundred-pound cow serpent in tow? And what about my friends? Could I seriously leave them to die? No, I couldn't.

"We beat you once before," I pointed out.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas… that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Zoe notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. The guards on either side of us raised their guns.

"Wait!" I said. "Zoe, don't!"

The manticore smiled. "The boy is right, Zoe Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear held at the ready.

"Surely it is clear," the manticore said. "This is your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made sinister kind of sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen. She was a child of the Big Three. And here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said. Doomsday was in progress.

Quietly, I wished that Ana was the one making the choice. I loved Thalia, but if I had to choose between putting the world in her or in Ana's hand, I'd chose Ana.

I waited for Thalia to tell the manticore off, but she hesitated. She looked completely stunned. My heart sank.

"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "Your friend Annabeth recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear."

"Thalia," I said, "snap out of it!"

She looked at me the same way she had looked at Ana the morning she woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed and uncertain. It was almost like she didn't know me, like I haven't been her best friend for years. "I… I don't—"

" _ **Her father saved her, twice,"**_  Mental Ana hissed.  _ **"Remind her. The gods aren't perfect, but they're better than the Titans. Remind her of that."**_

"Your father helped you," I repeated. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you. The gods aren't perfect, Thals. But they're damn better the Titans'll ever be. You know that."

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear. She looked away, a tortured expression on her face. I recognized it from the thousands of times I'd seen myself wearing it while looking in the mirror, or on Ana's face after her father did something. Or on pretty much everyone in Camp. Nobody could do parent problems like a demigod.

I looked at Grover desperately. Thank the gods, he understood what I needed. He raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick tune.

The manticore yelled, "Stop him!"

The guards had been targeting Zoe, and before they could figure out that the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs. Zoe let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of sulphurous yellow smoke. Fart arrows!

I slapped my hand on Ana's dolphin charm, the shield spiralling out.

The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in our direction, but they ricocheted off Ana's shield. Even damaged, it was still a damn good shield.

"Grover," I ordered, "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"

"Moooooo!" Grover translated. I could only hope that Bessie got the message.

"The cow…" Thalia muttered, still in a daze.

"Come on!" I pulled her along as we ran up the stairs to the shopping centre on the pier. We dashed around the corner of the nearest store. I heard the manticore shouting at his minions, "Get them!" Tourists screamed as the guards shot blindly into the air.

We scrambled to the end of the pier. We hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals—wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight. There was a water fountain next to us. Down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. The whole of San Francisco Bay spread out before us: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture-perfect moment, except for the fact that we were about to die and the world was going to end as a result.

"Fly away!" Zoe told me. "Use your shoes. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

She was right, but I couldn't do it. I wasn't Ana, dedicated to my friends' safety over the world's, but I was loyal. I wouldn't leave them.

"I won't leave you guys," I said, setting my jaw. "We fight together."

"You have to get word to camp!" Grover urged. "At least let them know what's going on!"

Then I noticed the crystals making rainbows in the sunlight. There was a drinking fountain next to me…

" _ **Perfect,"**_  Mental Ana sighed.

"Get word to camp," I muttered. "Good idea."

I raised Halcyon and slashed off the top of the water fountain. Water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over us.

Thalia gasped as the water hit her. The fog seemed to clear from her eyes. "Are you crazy?" She shrieked.

But Grover understood. He was already fishing around in his pockets for a coin. He threw a golden drachma into the rainbows created by the mist and yelled, "O goddess, accept my offering!"

The mist rippled.

"Camp Half-Blood!" I said.

And there, shimmering in the Mist right next to us, was the last person I wanted to see: Mr. D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator as he grumbled to himself (like always).

He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron?!" I shouted. What did I ever do to piss off the Fates? If I started to sacrifice to them, would they leave us alone? But, I was never gonna find out the answer to that, 'cause I WAS GONNA DIE! Fucking gods, why was I fighting for them again? Seriously, I couldn't remember.

"How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you kids say hello these days?"

"Hello," I amended. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

Mr. D considered that. I wanted to scream at him to hurry up, but I knew that wouldn't work. it would just make him more recalcitrant. Behind us, footsteps and shouting—the manticore's troops were closing in.

"About to die," Mr. D mused. "How exciting. I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

I looked at my friends. "We're dead."

Thalia gripped her spear. She looked like her old angry self again, so that was something. Our enemies would hurt as they died. "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," Mr. D said, stifling a yawn. "So what is the problem, exactly?"

I didn't see that it would make any difference, but I told him about the Ophiotaurus anyway.

"Mmm." He studied the contents of the fridge. "So that's it. I see."

"Oh, fuck you!"

"Let's see. I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

I wanted to slash through the rainbow and disconnect it, but I didn't have time. The manticore screamed, "There!" And we were surrounded. Two of the guards stood behind him. The other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above us. The manticore threw off his coat and transformed into his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs.

"Excellent," he said. He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured to me, as if this were an amusing thought. "You could say please."

When Punishment freezes over, I thought. There was no way I was going to die begging  _Mister D_ , just so he could laugh at us as we died fighting a war to protect his godsdamned throne.

Zoe readied her arrows. Grover lifted his pipes. Thalia raised her shield, and I noticed a tear running down her cheek. Suddenly it occurred to me: this had happened to us before. We had been cornered on Half-Blood Hill. She'd willingly given her life for us back then. But this time, she couldn't save us.

How could I let her hurt like this?

" _ **Do it,"**_ Mental Ana urged me.  _ **"Your lives are worth more than your pride."**_

"Please, Mister D," I muttered. "Help us."

Of course, nothing happened.

The manticore grinned. "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. You know how you feel when all the blood rushes to your head, like if you hang upside down and turn right-side up too quickly? There was a rush like that all around me, and a sound like a huge sigh. The sunlight tinged with purple. I smelled grapes and something more sour—wine.

SNAP!

It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. One guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours. Two others dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other. The fourth began doing what looked like an Irish clogging dance. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying.

"No!" screamed the manticore. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grape vines, which immediately began wrapping around the monster's body, sprouting new leaves and clusters of green baby grapes that ripened in seconds as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally, the grapes stopped shivering, and I had a feeling that somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.

"Well," said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. "That was fun."

I stared at him in shock. "You helped us," I muttered. "I can't believe this. Gods."

"Such gratitude," he muttered. "The mortals will come out of it. Too much explaining to do if I made their condition permanent. I do hate having to write reports to Father."

He stared resentfully at Thalia. "I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"

Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed. I reached over and panted her should reassuringly. She hadn't given in, and that was the important thing.

"Mr. D," Grover said in amazement. "You… you really saved us."

"Mmm. Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Luke Castellan. I've bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," I said. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mister D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But are we even supposed to go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoe. "Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.

All around us, the manticore's minions were still acting completely nuts. One of them had found one of the homeless guys, and they were having a serious conversation about metal angels from Mars. Several other guards were harassing the tourists, making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes.

I looked at Zoe. "What did he mean… 'You know where to go'?" Even as I asked, I guessed the answer.

Her face was the colour of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."


	15. Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The questers meet Ladon.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I'm fairly sure that I said that Luke hadn't been in Frisco before this in the previous chapter, which is obviously wrong given his quest. Forget that please. And Stacy and Ryan are the two who went with him to the Garden the first time around, and were killed. I made them up.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Dungeons and Dragons**

"We will never make it on foot," Zoe predicted grimly. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam beside us as we jogged along the waterfront. We had left the shopping centre pier far behind and we were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than I'd realized at first. The sun was already dipping in the west. Zoe was right, we needed a car.

"I'll hotwire the next car we see," I told her curtly. I checked the sky again, biting my lip worriedly. The Hesperides were the nymphs of the sunset, I knew from my last trip to the damn Garden. Their garden could only be entered when the day changed to night.

"What happens if we miss it?" Grover asked timidly, though I was fairly certain that all of us knew what would happen already.

"Tomorrow is winter solstice," Zoe replied curtly. "If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Or Ana will be dead, I thought, but I didn't say that. If Thalia really was the Prophecy Child, then the Titans would have no reason to keep Ana alive. Not unless she agreed to join their army, and I had no doubt that she would never betray the gods. Ana didn't like the gods, but she was loyal to them. And knowing Ana, she had been making her capture as painful for her captors as possible.

"But what about Bessie?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts. "We can't leave him. If the Titans get their claws on him..." I let my sentence trail off, disliking the dark imagery such thoughts conjured in my mind.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "I think so, anyway. He was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover suggested, looking excited. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me to Ana," I pointed out. And I still didn't understand what Bessie meant by me being linked to Ana. I'd've thought he would follow Grover, given their empathy link. Still, now wasn't really the time to worry about that.

"If neither of us are there, would he even know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

Grover hesitated and swallowed, looking down at the sad sea creature. "I… I can show him," he said. "I'll go with him."

I stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves. I wasn't particularly fond of it either, but I had grown more comfortable with it since meeting Ana. Grover was hydrophobic. And now he was going into the ocean? Willingly? When it was stormy from Poseidon's ire? That was huge.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover insisted. "It makes sense." He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover told us. "That should help with safe passage. And I'll pray to Poseidon as well. See if he'll grant the two of us safe passage through the seas."

"I'll pray to my father," I added with a shrug that made it seem as if it wasn't hugely difficult for me to ask the parent I hated for help for my friend. "God of travel, and all of that."

I exhaled deeply and conjured up the image of my father and Lord Poseidon. A jogger on his phone with salt-and-pepper hair, and a man with blue-tinted black hair, and eyes that reflected the sea. "Father," I murmured. "Lord Poseidon. Grant Grover and the Ophiotaurus safe passage to Camp Half-Blood. Protect them while they're at sea."

"A prayer that strong will need a sacrifice," Thalia warned, her eyebrows scrunched together in worry.

I bit my lip, trying to think what I could give to the two gods. If I hadn't given the lion coat to Artemis already, I could have sacrificed that but there was no use crying about it. Finally, I got an idea. I went over to a nearby bin, my companions trailing at my heels, and used my pilfered lighter to set a fire. Then I took off Ana's shield bracelet. She would be upset, but she would understand.

_**A shield is meant for protection,**_ Mental Ana added wisely in my head. _ **Protecting the Ophiotaurus is my responsibility, apparently, and I'll always keep my friends safe if I can.**_

The others gasped in surprise as I summoned the shield and threw it into the flames, where it burnt up with unnatural swiftness. A smell of snakes and the ocean was left in its' wake.

"That was Ana's shield," Thalia reminded me under her breath as we returned to the edge of the pier.

"Shield's are for protection," I shrugged back, suppressing my guilt. "And they're replaceable. Grover and Bessie are not."

She didn't say anything else.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose." He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink down. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," I urged them, echoing Mental Ana's plea.

"We will," Grover nodded before turning to the Ophiotaurus. "Okay, um… Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie asked.

"Yes," Grover confirmed, bobbing his head. "Long Island. It's this island. And… it's long. Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward.

"I can't breathe underwater!" Grover cried as they started to submerge beneath the waves. "Just thought I'd mention—" He was cut off as they went beneath the surface of the water.

I hoped Poseidon's protection would extend to little things, like breathing.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

I glanced around, spotting a bunch of cars parked on the curb nearby. "There," I pointed. "We'll get a car and drive."

The girls nodded and we all jogged over, where they covered me as I hotwired a white Volkswagon as quickly as I could. There was also a Porsche, but subtlety was key when it came to theft. We'd stand out if I took anything fancy.

Neither Thalia nor I argued when Zoe took control of the wheel. We didn't bother buckling ourselves in, either. Instead, we stayed with one hand on the door handles and the other clutching our weapons, ready to jump out as soon as the car slowed down in front of the Garden. I carefully suppressed the memories of my last trip to the Garden. This was no place for PTSD to rear its' head.

The sun was going down with what seemed like unnatural speed, though I logically knew that it was just me. Still, I figured that we had less than an hour to save Ana and Lady Artemis.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

She weaved in and out of the surrounding cars on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

I kept my eyes peeled as we drove closer to the Mountain of Despair. Noticing something, I felt my eyes widen in alarm.

"What's with the clouds?" I demanded worriedly. "There were no clouds there the last time that I was here."

Zoe didn't answer. I got the feeling that she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it. And if she thought it was a bad thing, then I definitely agreed with her.

"We have to concentrate," Thalia interrupted my thoughts. "The Mist is really strong here. We need to focus Luke."

"I know," I breathed, gripping Halcyon tighter. "I remember." Gods, did I remember. I hated this whole state.

The grey clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.

"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship," I explained, my jaw locked. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

Her eyes widened. "Ethan and Annabeth's ship?"

Despite the fact that I hadn't been able to make out any details, I nodded grimly. It had to be. The  _Princess Andromeda_ , Ethan and Chase's demon-filled cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why they'd sent their ship all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "The Titans' army."

I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Stop the car." Thalia shouted. "NOW!"

Zoe must've sensed something was wrong as well, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The VW spun around twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed me hard. We both rolled onto the pavement. The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and our stolen Volkswagen erupted like a grenade. I probably would've been killed by shrapnel had it not been for Thalia's shield, which appeared over me. I heard a sound like metal ram, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of white-painted metal were strewn across the road.

I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "Thanks."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"

It only took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad.

"It might not have been him," I offered weakly.

But I couldn't fully believe my own words. After all, Thalia was about to turn sixteen, and possibly destroy Olympus in the process. And Zeus wasn't exactly parent of the year, though he had turned her into a tree. so maybe he did care, a little bit anyway.

Thalia obviously picked up on my doubts, because she shot me a look as we scrambled to our feet. "Whose, then?" she demanded.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Zoe said Kronos' name. Maybe he—"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."

"Wait," I said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

We both ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her.

"Zoe!" I shouted, panic and flashbacks of my old friends Stacy and Ryan's deaths stripping me of my senses.

Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"Where are we?" I asked lowly, breathing heavily and checking her quickly. No signs of any injuries. Thank the gods. Maybe we  _could_  all get out of this alive, prophecy or no prophecy.

"Very close," she replied. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road from the Gates to the Garden of the Hesperides. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

"Wait, Thalia," I called, stopping her as she began to move forward. "About what happened back on the pier… I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

I didn't blame her for that. And it was hardly the best time. Still.

"Just remember," I begged her softly. "The gods aren't a great option. But they're a heck of a lot better than the Titans. You know that."

Her expression was shadowed and inscrutable, but she nodded. "Gods," she mumbled as we began walking towards the fog. "I wish Ana were older than me."

We plunged into the Mist at the same time, and exited in the entrance to a hell disguised as a beautiful paradise.

We were still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt, not brick. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: The Garden of the Hesperides, just as it was in my dream. Just as it had looked when Stacy and Ryan died in it.

I had to admit it. If it hadn't been for the vicious dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colours they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia stated. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Nice way to try and soften a woman up after tricking her into marrying you. Especially when you're a serial cheater. I wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.

Now, I don't know what you think of when I say dragon. Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed. I knew from experience that the lightest sound would wake him. And then he would kill us all.

Unconsciously, my eyes dropped to the ground, searching for any signs of the blood spilt by my old friends. I couldn't see anything save for the green grass, though I could point to the exact places where each of them had fallen. And where I had been scarred as Stacy somehow shoved me back out.

"GO!" she screamed in my memory. "It's not worth it! Go, Luke!" I swallowed and raised my eyes again, my heart aching. It had been my quest, and an unimportant one ordered by my father out of some strange sense of guilt that he felt. If any of us had to die, it should have been me. Not them.

That was when the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I reached for Halcyon, but Zoe grabbed my hand to stop me.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous. Though, in comparison to Ana... I shook that thought away quickly.

"Sisters," Zoe greeted them, wariness radiating from her.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls countered coldly. "We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

"Nobody is going to die," I growled. "Not again. Not in this damn place."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black. I steeled myself, pretending it didn't freak me out.

"Lukas Castellan," one of them said.

"You dare to come here again?" another demanded.

"We spared you last time," the third declared. "We will not be so gracious again."

"We must approach the mountain," Zoe interrupted sharply. "Artemis and Anaea Jackson must be freed, for the good of the West."

"You know that he will kill thee," the girl commented, seeming almost, but not quite, concerned for her sister. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted again. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe stated confidently.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered.

"Are you mad?" the lead girl snapped at Zoe, and I hated that I was wondering the same thing. Still, I managed to suppress my flashbacks to concentrate. I had no other choice.

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe announced defiantly. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoe, don't," Thalia warned. "You're not a Hesperide anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee. He will not leave it."

"Should," I scoffed, eyeing the source of half my nightmares. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that's not exactly reassuring, Zoe."

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him." I couldn't argue with that, given it was completely true.

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my back, and that was before his breath hit me. It seemed even worse than I remembered it being. It was like acid.

It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time that Thalia and I had come across an alley containing a dead rat in the middle of the summer. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never have another cough drop again.

I wanted to attack, to gain revenge against Stacy and Ryan's killer. But I had failed to defeat it already. Even Heracles himself had failed in a head-on assault. I had no hope of doing so. I would just have to trust Zoe's judgment, and hope that Ladon would recognize his old caregiver.

Thalia went left. I went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

"It's me, my little dragon," she cooed to him. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

Thalia and I were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon decided that he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at her.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

Flashes of Ryan and Stacy danced morbidly behind my eyelids as I drew my sword and turned to help her.

"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

We ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. It sounded even more like a funeral march now.

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in horrified awe.

"Yes," Zoe confirmed. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"Bad?" I repeated, giving a hysterical laugh. "That's the biggest understatement in history, Zoe. This is a disaster of global proportions. We need to grab Artemis and Ana and get the Hades out of here."

"Thy art correct," Zoe agreed. She began to say something else, but instead she winced and held her side.

"You're hurt," I said, stepping towards her in concern. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. We must hurry."

Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways.

"This is Atlas' mountain," Zoe continued as we climbed. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis and Ana were forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis stopped her approach.

"Stop!" she called urgently. "It is a trap. You must leave now." Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, hadn't even known it was possible, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis. If she couldn't hold it, how had Ana managed?

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis' protests, and tugged at the chains. We hurried up beside her, and I realized that the chains were magic. No amount of pick-pocketing or pulling would get them off the goddess' wrists.

A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."

We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Ethan, Annabeth and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Ana stood in between the two traitors. A strange grey streak was mixed in with her gorgeous brunette hair, which had been cut off roughly. Silena would have pitched a fit at the sight of it. She was slumped with weariness, and covered in various wounds. Despite that, she held her head up high with defiance.

Looking at her, I had to smirk a bit. It was clear that, despite the obvious injuries she bore, Ana hadn't made things easy for them. Not if they'd been forced to truss her up so much. She had her arms (one of which seemed badly broken) cuffed behind her back at her wrists and elbows, her ankles tied together enough that she could stumble but not run or even walk without help. A gag was in her mouth and tied around the back of her head, a pair of draeaenae were holding their spears to her back. Finally, Ethan was holding the edge of his sword against her slim throat.

I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN. And I knew, if Ana was advocating fleeing, things were beyond disastrous.

"Let her go," Thalia snarled, also looking worriedly at Ana.

Chase's smile was weak and pale. She looked even worse than she had three days ago in D.C. Ethan too, was showing signs of strain, his expression pinched. I guess they were finally realizing the reality of what they had chosen to do.

My heart bleeds for them, it really does. Treacherous bastards.

"That is the General's decision, Thalia," Annabeth declared, giving a strained smile. "But it's so good to see you again. I've missed you."

"I can't say the same," Thalia spat. Her electric blue eyes were full of fury as she took in the sight of Annabeth for the first time since she was turned into a tree.

For a second, Annabeth's expression fell, before it swiftly went back to neutral.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"So you're Atlas then?" I raised an eyebrow disdainfully, trying not show how terrified I felt on my expression. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ana's jaw working as she struggled out of her gag.

The General glanced at me. "Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe," I said stoically. "Or any of my girls. I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

"A family matter?" Ana croaked, the gag falling out of her mouth to rest around her throat. Her exhaustion was clear, but her fury was even worse. Oh, Atlas and his groupies had woken the dragon, and they didn't even realize it. I looked forward to seeing what she did when I cut those chains off of her.

"Yes," Zoe answered her question bleakly. "Atlas is my father."


	16. Weight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle everyone has been waiting for.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Okay, so everyone has been really excited for this chapter. I hope that it lives up to expectations. And that Ana doesn't slip into being a Mary-Sue/Deus Ex Machina. I hate those. Enjoy, and tell me what you think in a review!**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Holding the Weight of the World**

The horrible thing was: I could see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoe, the same coldly proud look in his eyes that Zoe sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times crueller. He was all the things that I had originally disliked about Zoe, with none of the good I'd come to appreciate.

"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis stopped her.

"No!" she snapped. "Do not offer, Zoe! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think that I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

"That'll never happen, asshole!" I snapped. It wasn't exactly the most eloquent that I could ever be, but it was the best I could think of at the moment.

I looked at Ana. She was desperately trying to tell me something without alerting anyone. She motioned her head toward Annabeth, her eyes forest green with desperation. But all that I could do was stare at her.

Her newly-grey streaked hair, the marks that covered her, the blood that stained her torn Camp t-shirt. I hadn't noticed it before, but her non-dominant arm was badly broken, to the point that I genuinely worried that the medics back at Camp might not be able to fix it.

"How the Hades did she survive holding it?" Thalia muttered to me under her breath. "The weight should've killed her."

"It's Ana Jackson," I shrugged back, my gaze still fixed on her. "She does six impossible things before breakfast."

"And another couple o'dozen after," Thalia grinned back briefly, before going serious again, glowering at our enemies.

Atlas approached us, his eyes glowing with hatred and his attention on Thalia.

"Well then, daughter of Zeus, it seems that Annabeth was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Annabeth managed.

She looked stressed and worried, as if it were her that had the weight of the sky on her shoulders, not Artemis. Part of me still ached at her pain, but it was smothered by the sight of Ana, struggling to stay standing despite her swollen ankle. Ana, who's hair was streaked with grey from Annabeth forcing her into taking the sky. My heart steeled itself against the traitor as Annabeth plead with Thalia, who looked a mixture of heartbroken and furious.

"Thalia, you still can join us," Chase implored. "Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

She waved her hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus. I could imagine Bessie in that pool.

Ana grunted and shook her head, looking away. "No," she breathed softly in a hoarse tone. "I won't do it! Thalia, don't you dare!"

She gasped as a dracaenae jabbed her in the back, snapping at her to be quiet.

They must have tried to get her to call Bessie before, I realized. Maybe they knew that she was his chosen protector. Ana, of course, had refused.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Annabeth persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Annabeth…" Her voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"

"You died!" Annabeth shrieked, a hint of hysteria in her face. "You died, and Luke got sent on a quest and Stacey and Ryan died and he nearly did. The gods don't care about us, we're just toys and servants to them! They have no right to rule the world! We deserve to make them pay for everything they've done to us!"

"Gods, build a godsdamned bridge and get over yourself," Ana huffed. "You do realize that without the gods, there won't be any demigods either, right? Symbiotic, hun."

I smirked at Ana's comments, but my grin disappeared as Annabeth spun around and slapped Ana so hard she fell down to her side. Ana cried out as she landed on her injured arm, and my vision went red with anger. Thalia lunged to grab hold of me before I could attack Chase, the way I wanted to.

"Free Ana," Thalia demanded, not glancing at the pool. "Let her go."

"If you join us it can be like old times," Annabeth promised, her eyes darting between Thalia and I with desperate hope. "The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree…"

Her voice faltered. "It's our last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."

I didn't know what she meant, but the fear in her voice sounded real enough. Something terrible was going to happen if Thalia didn't agree to help.

Annabeth life depended on Thalia's joining their cause. And I was afraid Thalia might know it, too. With Ana still lying on the floor, kept in place by a spear at her neck, I couldn't bring myself to care about Annabeth. But this was the first time that Thalia had seen her since Annabeth was a seven-year-old little girl. If she let old feelings cloud her judgment...

"Do not, Thalia," Zoe warned. "We must fight them."

Annabeth waved her hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.

"Thalia, you can't," I begged. "She's not the little girl we found in an alley anymore. Don't listen to her."

"Thalia, no," Ana also plead from her place on the ground. Thalia's eyes flickered to her, biting her lip so hard I could the blood welling up and staining her teeth.

Behind Annabeth, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, I saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Chase promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly her's. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

She pointed toward the ocean, and my heart fell. Marching up the side of the mountain from the beach, led by someone I was certain was Ethan Nakamura, was a great army. There were dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things I couldn't even name.

The whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than I'd seen on board last summer. And they were marching toward us. In a few minutes, they would be here.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Annabeth announced with a terrible glee. Her expression was filled with a cruel kind of insanity. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Annabeth, her eyes full of pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe her. Then she levelled her spear. "Luke's right. You're not the little girl I died for. I don't know who the Hades you are anymore."

"Yes, you do, Thalia," she begged, eyes welling with tears. Once upon a time, that sight had caused me to give her whatever she wanted. Maybe I had only fed her hubris and anger by doing so.

"Please. Don't make me… Don't make him destroy you."

There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. I met Ana's eyes again. She nodded, giving me a weak version of her usual 'don't go down without a fight' smile.

I looked at Thalia and Zoe, and I decided it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.

"Now," I stated.

Together, we charged.

Thalia went straight for Annabeth. The power of her shield was so great that her dracaenae bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite her sickly appearance, Annabeth was still quick with her sword, a steel-Celestial Bronze hybrid that was an unnamed sibling to Ethan's Backbiter and just as lethal, even if Annabeth had always been better with a knife.

She snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When her sword met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.

Zoe took up a position at the edge of the cliff and began picking off the reinforcements with perfect aim, not a single arrow wasted. As for me, I went straight for Ana.

Her guard didn't even have time to lift her spear before I had pierced her torso and she dissolved into dust. I hastily crouched and began stripping Ana of her various bindings.

"Are you alright to fight?" I asked her lowly as I pulled the remnants of her ankle chains off her ankles (one of which was swollen, but definitely not broken from my quick check, thank the Fates for small mercies.)

"Just try and stop me," Ana scoffed back. Her eyes had changed to a deep turquoise, the usual shade for her being utterly furious and out for blood. "I'm gonna kill 'em all!"

I chuckled as I helped her stand, though concern rose in my chest as she swayed for a second before regaining her balance and pulled her hairpin from her hair. (Seriously, how cocky were they, leaving her access to her weapon, even if she was tied up? Immortals! They're all the same, arrogant.)

"Ready?" I confirmed as we braced ourselves to fight.

She flashed me a smile filled with teeth. "Bring it on!"

Together, we charged at Atlas, heedless of Ana's injuries. And really, you'd barely notice that she was injured, she put up such a good fight.

Atlas cackled at us at first, because he had just been given carte blanche to fight us. That being said, he swiftly lost his amusement when Ana sliced a cut across his shin. Nothing remotely damaging, but for an immortal who believed himself to be invincible to be harmed in any way by a half-blood? Rage engulfed his face, and he started to actually put effort into the battle.

To Ana and I's credit, we were actually managing to stay alive despite Atlas' onslaught. We even managed a couple more hits. But Ana was hurt, I was exhausted and Atlas way out-classed us.

We held out about five minutes, before everything really went to Hades in a handbasket. Atlas kicked Ana in the stomach and she went flying, slamming into the opposite wall and slumping to the ground, unconscious. Or at least, she looked like she was unconscious. But I couldn't be sure, because after that Atlas turned his complete attention to me.

I hastily jumped back, out of range, and tried to plan. No way was I capable of holding off a Titan without help. I'd be dead in seconds. I continued to stay out of Atlas' reach, ignoring his cries of coward, as I glanced at my friends.

Thalia was still locked in combat with Annabeth, tears streaming out of both of their eyes as they tried to kill each other. Zoe had lost her bow, and was fighting knife-to-spear against a few dracaenae who had somehow gotten past her arrows. Ana, however, was beginning to stir again. Seriously, how tough was she? Even with a demigod's superior biology, designed for battle as it was, she had a high injury/pain tolerance.

Subtly, she reached up to her hair to grab her hairpin again, meeting my eyes as she did so. In the way that only people who knew each other inside out could, we shared a silent conversation through our eyes, making a plan. I nodded in confirmation, and braced myself.

Atlas was advancing on me, smirking darkly. "Time to die, little hero," he announced, in that melodramatic 'evil villain' tone. I had seriously believed that it was just a movie thing, but apparently not.

I glared at him defiantly, counting down silently in my head and praying that he wouldn't notice Ana's slow movements behind him.

He was just about to stab me through the chest with his javelin when Ana was suddenly on his back, Anaklumos buried hilt-deep in the crook of his shoulder. Gold ichor started flowing from his mouth as he used his good hand to try and grasp at Ana, who was proving the merits of adrenaline by avoiding his grasping hand with inhuman grace and ability. I could see her wincing every time that she moved her damaged wrist though.

Meanwhile, I ran to free the only person with us who actually had a chance of defeating Atlas.

I was given a surprising bit of help when Atlas' javelin, now pointless, hit me in the back. Though I avoided being impaled, I was still sent flying forward from the force of the momentum, and I slammed into the ground, my head spinning. I looked up and found I was at the feet of Artemis, still straining under the weight of the sky.

"Run, boy," she told me. "You must run!"

Gotta say, I hadn't expected her to care, given her general attitude towards males. If I escaped this alive, I'd make sure to sacrifice to her nightly. My head felt foggy, and I struggled to remember what I had been planning to do. It was important, I was sure. Ana had come up with it.

I glanced back. Ana was sprawled on the ground again, a sickening pool of blood forming around her. But I could see her chest, rising and falling. Atlas, meanwhile, was taking his time coming toward me. Annabeth and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackling around them.

"Die, little hero," Atlas said.

He raised his javelin to impale me.

"No!" Zoe yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas' armour.

"ARGH!" He bellowed and turned toward his daughter.

For some reason, that was what triggered it. I remembered the words of the prophecy:  _The Titan's curse must one withstand._

"The sky," I rasped out to the goddess. "Give it to me."

"No, boy," Artemis said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. "You don't know what you're asking. It will crush you!"

"Ana took it!"

"She barely survived. She is a strong maiden with the spirit of a true huntress. You will not last so long."

"I'll die anyway," I retorted impatiently. "Give it to me!"

I didn't wait for her answer. I grabbed Halcyon and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee—holding up my hands—and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt, as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to black out from the pain, but I breathed deeply. I can do this.

Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and I held it alone.

Afterward, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't.

Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky's weight crushing me.

' _Don't you dare give up, Luke!'_ I heard Ana say in my mind, though it seemed different to my usual Mental Ana somehow. _'Don't you dare!'_

I forced myself to breathe. Ana had held the sky for hours, until Artemis had taken it from her. I could manage a few minutes. The fate of the world depended on it, and that was a powerful motivator.

My vision turned fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red. I caught glimpses of the battle, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing clearly. There was Atlas in full battle armour, jabbing with his javelin, laughing insanely as he fought. And Artemis, a deadly blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed wildly at the Titan, dodging and leaping with unbelievable grace. She seemed to change form as she maneuvered. She was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Or perhaps that was just my fevered brain. Zoe shot arrows at her father, aiming for the chinks in his armour. He roared in pain each time one found its' mark, but they affected him like bee stings. He just got madder and kept fighting.

Thalia and Annabeth went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Chase back with the aura of her shield. Even she was not immune to it. She retreated, wincing and growling in frustration.

"Yield!" Thalia yelled. "You can't beat me, Annabeth. You're not good enough with a sword, and you know it."

She bared her teeth, looking like a wolf. "We'll see."

Sweat poured down my face. My hands were slippery. My shoulders would've screamed with agony if they could. I felt like the vertebrae in my spine were being welded together by a blowtorch.

Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back toward me.

_Get ready,_  she spoke in my mind.

I was losing the ability to think through the pain. My response was something like  _Agggghh-owwwwwwww._

"You fight well for a girl." Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."

He feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. I saw the trick coming. Atlas' javelin swept around and knocked Artemis' legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.

"No!" Zoe screamed. She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.

I wanted to shout her name, run to her aid, but I couldn't speak or move. I couldn't even see where Zoe had landed. Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph in his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.

"The first blood in a new war," Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward.

As fast as thought, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her, I saw him coming down on top of me and I realized what would happen. I loosened my grip on the sky, and as Atlas slammed into me I didn't try to hold on. I let myself be pushed out of the way and rolled for all I was worth.

The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas' back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late.

"Noooooo!" He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "Not again!"

Atlas was trapped under his old burden once again.

I tried to stand and fell back again, dazed from pain. My body felt like it was burning up.

Thalia backed Annabeth to the edge of a cliff, but still they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Annabeth had a bloody slash across her chest and her pale face glistened with sweat.

She lunged at Thalia and she slammed her with her shield. Annabeth's sword spun out of her hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to her throat.

For a moment, there was silence.

"Well?" Annabeth spat. She tried to hide it, but I could hear the fear in her voice. Once, I had soothed that fear. Now, I ignored her completely, scrambling to Ana's side. She had a deep cut going into her side, and I fumbled to get my t-shirt off so I could press it to her side, my hands shaking in fear. Ana didn't stir.

Thalia trembled with fury.

"Traitor!" She accused, her voice a sob.

A noise attracted my attention, and I realized that Artemis was no longer with me. She had run off toward the black rocks where Zoe had fallen.

"Thalia, please," Annabeth whimpered.

"Trick," Ana groaned, having somehow clawed her way back to consciousness. But her voice was too weak, and Thalia didn't hear. She hesitated, and Annabeth made a desperate grab for her spear.

"No!" I shouted, fearing that the traitor I had once considered a sister would kill my oldest friend. But battle reflexes kicked in and without thinking, Thalia kicked her away. She lost her balance, terror on her face, and then she fell.

"Annabeth!" Thalia and I both screamed.

We rushed to the cliff's edge. I barely noticed Ana start crawling to Artemis, though I knew that I'd feel awful later (if we lived). Below us, the army from the  _Princess Andromeda_ had stopped in amazement. Somewhere during the fifty-foot drop, Annabeth had disappeared without a trace.

"Kill them!" A giant roared, and I hastily pulled Thalia back as a wave of javelins sailed over our heads. We ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as we passed.

"Artemis!" I yelled.

The goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as Thalia's. Zoe lay in the goddess' arms, Ana, pale-faced, was stroking her hair and crying softly. Zoe was breathing. Her eyes were open. But still…

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.

"Atlas poisoned her?" I asked. I cast the trapped Titan a look of utter loathing.

"No," the goddess shook her head. "Not Atlas."

She showed us the wound in Zoe's side. In the middle of everything, I had almost forgotten her scrape from Ladon. The bite was much worse than Zoe had let on. I could barely look at the wound. She had charged into battle against her father with a horrible cut already sapping her strength.

"The stars," Zoe murmured. "I cannot see them."

"Nectar and ambrosia," Ana suggested. "Does anyone have any?"

No one moved. Grief hung in air. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir.

The sound of the approaching monsters made Zoe moan. "Milady," she whispered, her voice weakening. "Go. You must..escape.."

Artemis still looked anguished, but she nodded and raised her hunting horn to her lips. Its' clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoe's eyes were fluttering.

"Hang in there!" Ana urged her. "It'll be all right!" Ana's compassion for someone she didn't know, even as injured and weak as she was now, astounded me.

The moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer I had ever seen. It landed right next to us.

"Get in," Artemis ordered.

Thalia helped me get Ana on board. Then I helped Artemis with Zoe. We wrapped Zoe in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.

"Like Santa Claus' sleigh," Ana murmured, still dazed with pain and blood loss.

Artemis took time to look back at her. "Indeed, young heroine. And where do you think that legend came from?"

Ana gave a weak smirk and nodded in acknowledgement.

Behind us, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.


	17. Sky Huntress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RIP Zoe Nightshade.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I hope everybody had a great Christmas! I certainly did. Best wishes for New Years, too.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**A Huntress Becomes One with the Sky**

We landed at Crissy Field after nightfall.

I helped Ana limp out of the chariot while Thalia and Artemis lifted Zoe out. Then we all knelt at Zoe's side, Artemis using her powers to bind Zoe's wounds. Ana was injured badly as well, but nothing that couldn't wait, at least as far as I could tell without being a medic. Zoe, on the other hand, was breathing more shallowly with every minute that passed.

I wanted desperately to help, but there wasn't much we could do. We had no ambrosia or nectar left. No regular medicine would help (not that we had any) and none of us were medics. It was dark, but I could see that Zoe didn't look good. She was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading.

"Can't you heal her with your powers?" Ana asked Artemis, leaning heavily on me. Her voice was hoarse and raw like she'd been screaming and I didn't want to think about why. "I mean… you're a goddess."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Ana. If the Fates cut the string, there is little I can do. But I can try."

She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess' eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.

"Have I… served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honour," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."

But in that moment, I knew it wasn't just the poison that was killing her. It was her father's final blow. Zoe had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save me, and paid the price for it. I felt my heart ache in grief and regret for the loss of such a good person.

She saw Thalia, and took her hand.

"I am sorry that we argued," Zoe murmured. "We could have been sisters."

"It's my fault," Thalia answered, blinking hard. "You hurt my pride, and I couldn't let it go. I'm sorry."

"I was wrong," Zoe murmured. "Not all men are bad, I believe." She smiled weakly at me. "You are a good man, Lukas Castellan," she told me. "Nothing like Heracles. I am proud to have known thee, and to consider you a friend."

"You too," I croaked out. "You're a good person, Zoe. I'm sorry that I didn't see that earlier. I'm glad to have met you."

She smiled weakly at me, before turning to Ana. "Do you still have the sword, Ana?"

Despite never having spoken to Zoe before, tears streamed freely down Ana's dirty face as she pulled the pin from her hair and placed it in Zoe's hand. She grasped it contentedly.

"You are a brave maiden, and warrior, Anaea Jackson," she said, her voice growing softer with each word. "I am honoured that you carry this sword. Use it well."

"I am honoured to carry the weapon that you created," Ana replied unsteadily. "In my dreams, I saw what happened on the quest, and what Heracles did to you. I swear, I'll honour your memory and wield Anaklusmos in your name."

Zoe smiled at her weakly. "Thank you," she whispered. A shudder ran through her body. Ana let out a sob.

"Zoe—" I began, not even knowing what I wanted to say. I wished that I could stop time and heal her, that I could go up to the Fates and damn them all to Tartarus for being so cruel to someone as loyal and good as Zoe Nightshade. She deserved better than this.

"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis' cheek. I felt my respect for her grow, at the obvious care she showed for her handmaidens.

"Yes, my brave one," she crooned, running a hand through Zoe's dark hair maternally. "They are very beautiful tonight."

"I see the stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

Thalia lowered her head. Ana sobbed and turned her head to weep into my shoulder as I numbly wrapped my arms around her and rocked. I watched as Artemis cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared.

Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.

For a moment I didn't see anything different. Then Thalia gasped. Looking up in the sky, I saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before—a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

"Let the world honour you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."

The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. That made me nervous, because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would all be disintegrated just by looking at her. I could see that Ana was worried too, from the way she eyed the goddess tensely.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis declared. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send transport to collect you and bring you there."

The goddess set her hand on Ana's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

Then she looked quizzically at Thalia, as if she weren't sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess' eyes. I wasn't sure what passed between them, but Artemis' gaze softened with sympathy. Then she turned to me.

"You did well," she told me. "For a man."

I thought that might have been a compliment, so I said bowed and mumbled a soft thanks, sure that my voice and expression were showing the strain that I was feeling over everything that had happened during the past week.

She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. We averted our eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.

"What now, then?" Ana asked, using her not-broken hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

I studied her, grimacing at the wounds that littered her small body. Her clothes were ripped and covered in blood and monster dust.

"I could go and find a pharmacy," I suggested. "Get some supplies to patch you up until we can get back to Camp and the healers can fix you up properly."

She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped and turned, looking up. For a second, I thought we were about to be attacked again. From Thalia's automatic movement to grab her spear, she thought the same way.

Then I heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one.

"Blackjack!" Ana called, her expression lighting up in delight.

They landed and Blackjack nickered at her.

"It was rough, but I'm alright," she admitted, petting him lovingly.

It was always a bit strange to see Ana chatting to equine or aquatic animals, but then, I was a demigod. Strange was the perfect description of my life, along with crazy and violent.

"Nah," Ana said, in response to something else Blackjack had said. "These are my friends, Thalia and Luke. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast." She glanced over her shoulder at us. "Let's go."

We nodded in agreement, and went over to her and the pegasi to mount them. They took off straight away. Together we soared over the bay and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind us, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north.

Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie's back. I knew she had to be really tired to sleep in the air, despite her fear of heights, but she didn't have much to worry about. Her pegasus flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in a while so that Thalia stayed safely on his back.

Ana and I flew along side by side.

"How're you doing?" I asked, after a while of silent flying.

Ana glanced at me, wearing the guarded expression usually reserved for matters related to taboo topics such as her step-father, time in foster care/on the streets, the Great Prophecy and her father. I guess her time in captivity (and gods, I needed a new way to phrase it. That made her sound like a zoo exhibit.) was going to be added to the list of Things Not to be Discussed.

Call me crazy, but that didn't seem too healthy for her mental state. Weren't you supposed to talk about that sort of thing, to help deal with the trauma of it all? What had they even done to her while she was at Mount Othrys?

"I'm fine," she muttered, looking forward again. "Tired."

I bit my lip, then decided to leave it be for the moment. At least until I could ask Chiron for advice. Chiron would know how to help her.

"Are you going to join the Hunters?" I blurted out, cursing my ADHD after finishing the sentence. I hadn't meant to say that.

She grimaced as she looked at me again. "Why would you think that?"

"I found the brochure."

"No. I'm not joining them."

And that was the end of  _that_  conversation. It was clear that Ana didn't want to talk, so I stayed silent and instead focused on watching our surroundings fly by.

The towns were zipping by faster now, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning grey. And up ahead, a huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before us—the lights of New York.

"You're the best horse that a girl could ask for, Blackjack," Ana said suddenly, smiling fondly as she patted his neck. "What would I do without you?"

He nickered happily.

"There it is." Thalia's voice; she'd woken up. She was pointing toward Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. "It's started."

"What's started?" Ana asked, frowning at her in bemusement.

Then I looked where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its' own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.

"The Winter Solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."


	18. To Kill or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council votes on Thalia and Ana's right to live.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I cut this chapter off before the party, because I've always felt that it ended better at Percy, or in this case, Ana, being allowed to live. The party may or may not be in the next chapter, I haven't decided yet.**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**To Kill or Not to Kill, the Greek Edition**

Flying was bad enough for when you're travelling with the daughter of Poseidon, but flying straight up to Zeus' palace, with thunder and lightning swirling around it, was even worse.

We circled over midtown Manhattan, making one complete orbit around Mount Olympus. I'd been there several times before, but not since Annabeth had stolen the Master Bolt. As far as I knew, Zeus had put a stop to any visits by half-bloods after the whole incident.

This time, maybe because of the angle I was approaching from, Olympus amazed me even more than it did the other times.

In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colours, from bloodred to indigo. Apparently no one ever slept on Olympus. The twisting streets were full of nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn't seem to exist here. I caught the scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine and roses and even sweeter things I couldn't name. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes.

Ana glanced briefly around, her expression blank in a way I associated with her preparing to go into a vicious battle, then turned her attention to the main attraction. I copied her actions, and spotted Thalia doing the same as we approached the glowing white hall of the gods.

Our pegasi set us down in the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. Before any of us could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves. Blackjack whined and Ana gave a dry laugh at whatever he said to her.

"We'll need it," she sighed, patting Blackjack's neck as she clambered off him with uncharacteristic awkwardness. She needed to get her ribs fixed, by the look of it.

"Need what?" Thalia asked, fiddling with her mace canister. Ana shot her a grim smile, resignation and resentment shining in her currently-forest green eyes.

"Luck," she elaborated. "The gods have good reason to want both of us dead."

Thalia and I both grimaced in unhappy agreement while Blackjack and his friends flew off, leaving Thalia, Ana, and I alone. For a minute we stood there regarding the palace, the way we'd stood together in front of Westover Hall, what seemed like a million years ago.

And then, side by side in silence, we walked into the throne room.

Twelve enormous thrones made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. The ceiling above glittered with constellations—even the newest one, Zoe the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn.

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about fifteen feet tall, and I'm telling you, if you've ever had a dozen all-powerful super-huge beings turn their eyes on you at once… Well, suddenly, facing the hydra seemed like a picnic.

Of course, the girls both grew haughtier and defiant looking at the stares. Unlike me. I tried to turn invisible from the power of my thoughts. My father shooting me a grin only made me more uncomfortable. Still, I faked it as best I could.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis finally greeted us, breaking the silence.

"Mooo!"

That's when I noticed Bessie and Grover.

A sphere of water was hovering in the centre of the room, next to the hearth fire. Bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out the sides and bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble. Grover was kneeling at Zeus' throne, as if he'd just been giving a report, but when he saw us, he jumped up in delight.

"You made it!" he cried. "Ana, you're okay!"

He started to run toward her, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission.

"Go on," Zeus nodded. But he wasn't really paying attention to Grover. The lord of the sky was staring intently at Thalia. What did he want with her? Holy Fates, I hated meeting up with the gods. I never knew what they wanted from us, but I did know that it was always ended up being bad for us.

Grover trotted over to us quickly, beaming brightly. Ana gave a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, pointedly not looking towards her father, who was studying her with narrow green eyes. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover's hooves echoed on the marble floor. Bessie splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled.

Grover gave all of us big hugs. Then he grasped Ana's arms.

"Ana, you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

I felt a jab of annoyance at Grover. Couldn't he see how exhausted Ana was? She needed the camp medical bay, not to get stressed out trying to solve the latest disaster threatening the West.

"Can't do what?" Ana asked, her brow crinkling.

"Heroes," Artemis called before he could answer her.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked toward us, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

"The Council has been informed of your deeds," Artemis told us. "They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas' attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren't all happy with this plan, but nobody protested. Ana's shoulders relaxed an inch for half-a-second before she tensed up again.

"At my Lord Zeus' command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans' cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes…"

She turned to face the other immortals. "These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?"

She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually. Zeus in his dark pin-striped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered colours like peacock feathers. Queen Hera.

On Zeus' right was Ana's father Poseidon. On Poseidon's other side sat a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head, and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers. The Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus.

My father, Hermes winked at me when he saw me looking around. He was wearing a business suit today, checking messages on his caduceus mobile phone. I looked away, uncomfortable at acknowledging him.

Beside him, Apollo leaned back in his golden throne with his shades on. He had iPod headphones on, so I wasn't sure he was even listening, but he gave me a thumbs-up. Dionysus looked bored, twirling a grape vine between his fingers. And Ares, well, he sat on his chrome-and-leather throne, glowering at Ana and I while he sharpened a knife.

On the ladies' side of the throne room, a dark-haired goddess in green robes sat next to Hera on a throne woven of apple-tree branches. Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. Next to her sat a beautiful grey-eyed woman in an elegant white dress. Athena. Thank the gods, the only thing she shared with my estranged friend was her eye colour. Then there was Aphrodite, who smiled at me knowingly and made me blush in spite of myself.

All the Olympians in one place. So much power in this room it was a miracle the whole palace didn't blow apart.

"I gotta say"—Apollo broke the silence—"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "Heroes win laurels—"

"Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry. "All in favour of not disintegrating them?" His hand went straight up.

A few seconds later, several tentative hands went up—Demeter, Aphrodite.

"Wait just a minute," Ares growled. He pointed at Thalia and Ana. "These two are dangerous. It'd be much safer, while we've got them here—"

I opened my mouth to snap back in my girls' defence on instinct, but was cut off by Ana standing on my foot and Lord Poseidon's voice cutting across the war god.

"Ares," Poseidon snapped in a decisive voice, "they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my daughter to bits."

"Nor mine," Zeus grumbled. "She has done well."

Thalia blushed. She studied the floor. I knew how she felt. I'd hardly ever talked to my father, much less gotten a compliment. Ana eyed her father like he was offering her a poisonous snake (and Ana hates snakes. Believe me. She can keep her head around them in a fight, but once our lives are no longer in danger? Major meltdown time.)

The goddess Athena cleared her throat and sat forward. "I acknowledge their deeds, but I feel that I must point out that there is a security risk here with the other two."

"Cause any of this is our fault," Ana grumbled under her breath. "Not like it's her daughter trying to resurrect the Titans or anything."

Athena gave her a venomous look as she went on, Ana meeting her eyes fearlessly. Or recklessly, which is a bit different.

"It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic. As we know from history and from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods… such as Thalia and Ana… are dangerous. As thickheaded as he is, Ares does have a point."

"Right!" Ares said. "Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin'—"

"Well, then, my lady," Ana cut across him coolly. "I'm sure you'll be very relieved to learn that, during my time in the Titans' hands, I made a vow on the Styx not to aid them willingly, or knowingly. I am loyal to Olympus and the West."

I carefully ignored her lack of mention of the gods themselves, instead squeezing her hand gently as another ripple went through the gods. We would definitely be talking about that later, but I couldn't say much. I had sworn on the Styx to do everything I could to protect her, after all.

"The risk remains," Athena huffed, scowling. "You could be tricked into helping them. Not to mention the raw power contained by children of the Big Three. And anyway, Thalia is older."

"I have no love for them," Dionysus huffed. "Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?"

"I do not pass judgment," Athena said. I bit back a scoff. It was obvious that she wanted the girls killed.

"I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide."

"I will not have them punished," Artemis insisted. "I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favour, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

"Calm down, sis," Apollo said. "Jeez, you need to lighten up."

"Don't call me sis! I will reward them."

"Well," Zeus grumbled. "Perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?"

A lot of nodding heads.

It took me a second to realize what they were saying. Then my heart turned to lead. I opened my mouth to speak, but Ana got there ahead of me.

"Bessie?" she gasped, looking horrified. "You want to kill Bessie?"

"Mooooooo!" Bessie protested.

Poseidon frowned. "You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?"

"Father," she pleaded. "he's just an innocent sea creature. A really nice, baby sea creature at that. You can't destroy him. Please, I'm supposed to  _protect_  him."

Briefly, I wondered how she knew about that, but I pushed the thought away. There were more important things to worry about.

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. "Ana, the monster's power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or—"

"You can't," she insisted. She looked at Zeus, staring him right in the eye. "Controlling the prophecies never works," she declared. "Isn't that true? Besides, Bess—the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. It's just as wrong as… as Kronos eating his children, just because of something they might do. It's wrong!"

Zeus seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to his daughter Thalia. "And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you really think that we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"You have to trust them," I finally managed to find my voice and speak up. "Sir, you have to trust them."

Zeus scowled. "Trust a hero?"

"The boy is right," Artemis said. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately."

Zeus beckoned Artemis forward. He leaned down and listened as she spoke in his ear. Dread filled me. I knew, in my bones, that I was about to lose one of my girls.

They had figured out what was going to happen as well. They looked at each other, and I saw a silent apology pass from Thalia to Ana. Ana nodded in acceptance, a weary smile on her face as she accepted the burden of the Great Prophecy back from Thalia, after a few short months without it. At the same time as Ana's shoulders slumped in exhaustion, Thalia's straightened as a heavy pressure disappeared. She then gave me a smile, and a dozen things flowed silently between us.

I sighed and nodded, forcing myself to smile at her. After all, she deserved to be happy. If this made her happy, then who was I to intervene?

Artemis stepped away from Zeus and turned in our direction.

"I shall have a new lieutenant," she announced. "If she will accept it."

I bit back the instinctive protest that formed as she went on. "Thalia," Artemis said. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"

Stunned silence filled the room. Apparently the three of us were the only ones to expect this, though it was an obvious solution to Thalia's problem. As Thalia replied, Ana squeezed her hand once and let it go.

"I will," Thalia said firmly.

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. "My daughter, consider well—"

"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again."

She knelt before the goddess and began the words I remembered from Bianca's oath, what seemed like a lifetime ago, instead of days. So much had changed, so quickly.

"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men…"

Afterward, Thalia did something that surprised me almost as much as the pledge. She came over to me, smiled, and in front of the whole assembly, she gave me a big hug. I stiffened before returning it. Neither Thalia nor I were hugging people. Most demigods weren't, actually.

"I love you, Thalia," I whispered into her ear. "You're my favourite sister. Always have been. Thank you."

"You'll always be my best friend, Luke," she muttered. "I must join the Hunt, Luke. I haven't known peace since… since Half-Blood Hill. I finally feel like I have a home now. But you'll always be the best friend I could have ever asked for. Thank you."

I sniffed as she turned to Ana and gave a smile.

"Ana," she murmured, pulling her into her own hug. "I'm sorry to put this on your shoulders, but I know you can do it. You're a better hero than anyone else I've ever met. You will be the one of the prophecy."

"Great," Ana scoffed, sky-blue eyes shimmering.

"I'm proud to be your friend."

She even hugged Grover, who looked ready to pass out, like somebody had just given him an all-you-can-eat enchilada coupon.

Then she went to stand by Artemis' side.

"Now for the Ophiotaurus," Artemis said.

"The beast is a temptation to great power," Dionysus warned. "Even if we spare the girl—"

"No." Ana looked around at all the gods imploringly. "Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe. Lord Poseidon can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here in Olympus. But you have to protect him."

"And why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.

She raised an eyebrow, giving an 'are you a moron look?' "Other than the oath I made?" she asked sarcastically. "I'm only fourteen. If the prophecy is about me, that's two more years. Way my luck is going, I'll be dead before then." I flinched.

"Two years for Kronos to deceive you," Athena pointed out, ignoring the last part of the comment. "Much can change in two years, my young hero."

"She made an oath of loyalty, what more can she do?" I growled, glaring bitterly at Annabeth's mother. Gods, how I hated her. It was her fault that Chase had turned against us.

"It is only the truth, child," Athena sniffed. "It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the girl."

Poseidon stood. "I will not have a sea creature destroyed, if I can help it. And I can help it."

He held out his hand, and a trident appeared in it: a twenty-foot-long bronze shaft with three spear tips that shimmered with blue, watery light. "I will vouch for the girl and the safety of the Ophiotaurus."

"You won't take it under the sea!" Zeus stood suddenly. "I won't have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession."

"Brother, please," Poseidon sighed.

Zeus' lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole room with the smell of ozone. I subtly shifted to prepare myself to knock Ana to the ground and shield her with my body, just in case.

"Fine," Poseidon huffed. "I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The girl will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honour."

"We're better off having  _her_  then somebody else, given that she's made a loyalty oath," Apollo pointed out lazily, looking more like he was commenting on the weather than deciding whether or not Ana got to live past fourteen.

Zeus thought about this. "All in favour?"

To my (and obviously Ana's) relieved surprise, a lot of hands went up. Dionysus abstained. So did Ares and Athena. But everybody else…

"We have a majority," Zeus decreed. "And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes… I imagine we should honour them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"


	19. Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's heritage is discovered.

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Sorry I was gone for so long guys. My computer crashed at the same time that I was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Not an auspicious start to the New Year.**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**A Message From the Wild**

If there's one thing the Olympians really know how to do, it's party.

The Nine Muses acted as DJs, and it didn't take long for Ana and I to realize that you heard whatever you wanted to, at whatever volume. For example, I was listening to Nickelback, my favourite band, while Ana claimed to be hearing this Irish band called the Script that she'd recently fallen in love with after Lou introduced her to it. It was brilliant. There were no arguments, no fights to change the radio station. Just requests to crank it up a bit more.

Apollo himself treated Ana, taking her aside before the party started and healing her with a few hand waves. Unfortunately, some of the bones in her left wrist had been shattered into dust over her time in captivity, and even he was unable to regrow them. It would have to be amputated, news that nearly made me get sick from horror. He recommended speaking to his children and the members of the Hephaestus Cabin about getting her a prosthetic. To her credit, Ana simply nodded and thanked him for his help, not letting a single sign of distress show itself on her elegant face.

I had the random thought, as I looked at her, that she looked like a princess. Regal and beautiful, with the weight of thousands of lives resting on her shoulders.

Dionysus went around growing refreshment stands, a beautiful and young looking woman clutching his arm. His wife, Princess Ariadne. For the first in history, Ana and I saw a smile on the camp director's face. We both bemoaned the lack of photographic evidence, knowing that no one at camp would ever believe it.

Nectar and ambrosia overflowed from golden fountains, and platters of mortal snack food crowded the banquet tables. (Naturally, Ana and I shoved as much of our favourites into my backpack as we could. Take opportunities where you see them, right?) golden goblets filled with whatever drink you desired (Ana even sipped some alcohol, spat it out and said she didn't see what the fuss was all about. Personally, I agree. Being drunk is a terrifying prospect for a half-blood.)

Grover trotted around with a tray-sized plate filled with tin cans and enchiladas, and his goblet was full of double-espresso latte, which he kept muttering "Pan! Pan!" into like an incantation. The two of us hung out on the sides of the party, feeling uncomfortable but unable to leave yet. Especially when Aphrodite sauntered up to us, hips swaying seductively. She greeted us and then proceeded to reveal what her 'gift' had been. It wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be.

Turns out, my Mental Ana, was  _actually_ Ana. She had seen pretty much the entire quest through my eyes, and I had picked up on her own mental comments about the events as they happened. Thankfully, we were no longer so deeply connected, but we would apparently know if the other was in danger. It was a bit like having our own empathy link.

"You're welcome," Aphrodite winked at us after explaining, before strolling off to drag Ares onto the dance floor with her. Ana and I looked at each other, Ana cradling her arm to her chest protectively.

"I guess we owe her some sacrificed salad," she muttered.

"I suppose," I agreed. "So you saw everything then?"

"Pretty much. It was a good distraction, anyway."

I swallowed, scanning her anxiously. "What did they do?"

Her expression darkened. "It could've been a lot worse," she replied vaguely.

I left it at that. She clearly still wasn't ready to talk about any of it yet, and here, surrounded by gods who kept coming up to congratulate her on not being disintegrated (obviously they all wanted her to thank them for being so gracious as to let her survive the sin of being born) was not the time to talk about this stuff anyway. I felt a powerful presence approaching at the same time as Ana did, and we both stiffened in unison.

"You won't let me down, I hope," a man's voice came from behind us. Turning, we found ourselves looking at Lord Poseidon. He was ignoring me totally, smiling at Ana.

She shifted uncomfortably, adjusting her arms so they were crossed and raising her chin. "My lord," she greeted him carefully.

I could see how uneasy she felt. We both knew just how much Poseidon had put himself on the line by vouching for Ana and the Ophiotaurus. It would've been much easier for him to simply let her and Bessie be executed. Ana clearly wasn't sure how to cope with what could be interpreted as her father actually caring about her.

"Hello Ana," he said. "You have done well."

"I didn't do much," she snorted, her eyes darkening and shifting to the side for a moment before returning her gaze to her father. "I won't fail," she promised.

He nodded. I wasn't about to claim any understanding of the gods, but I wondered (and I knew Ana did too) if he had doubts. I certainly didn't.

"Athena's traitor daughter was once one of the most promising heroes of your generation," he informed us. I clenched my jaw. "She was her mother's greatest pride. Just bear that in mind, Ana. Even the bravest can fall."

"Ana's nothing like Chase," I growled, angered at the comparison. Ana shot me a sharp look, silently reminding me that disintegrating me was a lot less politically complicated than disintegrating her was. Poseidon glanced at me briefly, hmming mildly before looking back.

"You look very like Sally," he told her, making Ana stiffen.

"Thank you," she replied curtly. "There's no one I would rather be compared to."

"She was a queen among mortals," Poseidon continued, looking wistful. "I offered to take her under the sea and build her a palace, but she refused."

"That would have made her miserable," Ana nodded. "She didn't want charity."

"A queen among mortals," he repeated, before changing the subject. "Nakamura and Chase sail from San Francisco with the remains of Kronos even now. They will retreat and regroup before assaulting you again. I will do my best to destroy their boat with storms, but they are making alliances with my enemies, the older spirits of the ocean. They will fight to protect them."

"Annabeth is alive?" I blurted out. I hated how instantly relieved I felt. Ana, knowing me far too well, grabbed my hand and clutched it tightly for support.

"How is that possible?" she asked. "Falling from that height should have killed her!"

Poseidon looked troubled. "I don't know, Ana, but beware of them. They are more dangerous than ever. And the golden coffin is still with them, still growing in strength."

"What about Atlas?" She pressed, while I stared at the floor with a tense frown. "What's to prevent him from escaping again? Couldn't he just force some giant or something to take the sky for him?"

Poseidon snorted in derision. "If it were so easy, he would have escaped long ago. No, my daughter. The curse of the sky can only be forced upon a Titan, one of the children of Gaia and Ouranos. Anyone else must choose to take the burden of their own free will. Only a hero, someone with strength, a true heart, and great courage, would do such a thing. No one in Kronos' army would dare try to bear that weight, even upon pain of death."

"Annabeth took it to free Atlas, and then she held the lives of everyone in California hostage to make me take it." Her voice held a cold fury I had never heard from her before, and I gave her a quick, worried look.

"Yes," Poseidon mused. "Annabeth Chase is… an interesting case."

I think he wanted to say more, but just then, Bessie started mooing from across the courtyard. Some demigods were playing with his water sphere, joyously pushing it back and forth over the top of the crowd and laughing in amusement at it.

"I'd better take care of that," Poseidon grumbled. "We can't have the Ophiotaurus tossed around like a beach ball. Be good, my child. We may not speak again for some time."

And just like that he was gone. Ana turned to me, face pale and strained.

"Let's go home."

Fully in agreement with her, I wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her and we made our way back to the elevator. Just as we broke through the crowd, another voice stopped us.

"Your father takes a great risk, you know."

Turning, we found ourselves face-to-face with a grey-eyed woman who looked so much like Annabeth I almost called her that.

"Lady Athena." I tried not to sound resentful, after the way she'd written Ana off in the council, but I guess I didn't hide it very well. Ana's face was blank, her lips pressed tightly together.

She smiled dryly. "Do not judge me too harshly, half-blood. Wise counsel is not always popular, but I spoke the truth. You are dangerous." That statement was directed at Ana, who narrowed her eyes as she replied in a curt tone.

"You never take risks?"

She nodded. "I concede the point. You may perhaps be useful. And yet… your fatal flaw may destroy us as well as yourself."

Ana went stiff at that. Neither of us knew what her fatal flaw was. Personally, mine was that I had 'excessive wrath' to quote Chiron. I let my anger and resentment control me and blind me. It had caused problems in the past. But Ana, I was never sure, though we had certainly tried to figure it out. It was always vital to recognize your flaws, or else they could be easily used against you.

Athena looked almost sorry for her, but I knew it had to be faked. After all, Athena was known for her cruelty towards, well, everybody, but especially children of Poseidon. And given the goddess of wisdom's current disgrace over her daughter's actions, well...

"Kronos knows your flaw, even if you do not," she said. "He knows how to study his enemies. Think, Anaea. How has he manipulated you? He uses your loved ones to lure you into his traps. Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty, Anaea. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. In a hero of the prophecy, that is very, very dangerous."

Ana balled her hands into fists, glowering furiously at Athena. "That's not a flaw," she spat. "Just because I want to help my friends—"

"The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation," Athena replied coolly. "Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed."

Ana didn't reply, her scowl deepening.

"I hope the Council's decisions prove wise," Athena pursed her lips. "But I will be watching, Anaea Jackson. Should you begin to waver in your loyalties…"

She fixed Ana with her cold grey stare, and, watching the stare-down, I realized what a terrible enemy Athena would make, ten times worse than Ares or Dionysus, or any other god Ana had angered. Athena would never give up. She would never do something rash or stupid just because she hated you, and if she made a plan to destroy you, it would not fail. I shuddered in fear, thinking of the stories of what she had done to those who angered her. Her punishments were vicious and cruel. I was terrified at the thought of Ana facing that wrath.

Ana stayed silent, her expression going neutral as we watched Athena disappear back into the crowd. As soon as she was gone, we hurried into the elevator, eager to escape before any more gods popped up to speak to Ana.

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus picked up Ana and I at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, I half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. We sat with him and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena, and the Stolls. Even Clarisse was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to punch me, and gave Ana as tight a hug as Silena did. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Ana!"

Ana flashed me a grateful smile, while I tugged her to lean against my side and munched on my sandwich, rubbing her arm as she rested her head against my shoulder.

"Yes, but Chase and Nakamura are still out there," I told him, making him sigh and Ana grimace.

"Well, we still have time to get them," she said hopefully. "I won't turn sixteen for two more years, after all."

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. I mean… he  _was_  really old, but he usually didn't look it.

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Ana. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."

"We can hardly pretend now," Ana mumbled under her breath. "Even the gods know we're at war." she looked up at Chiron. "Why would he care about camp?" She asked, wrinkling her eyebrow. "We're not immortals. Surely he'll focus on the gods, not us."

"But the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Annabeth and Ethan's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous… We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but—"

There was a knock on the door, and Nico di'Angelo came huffing into the parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's… where's my sister?"

Dead silence. I stared at Chiron. I couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And then I realized why. They'd been waiting for us to appear, to tell Nico in person.

That was the last thing I wanted to do. But I owed it to Bianca.

"Hey, Nico." I got up from my comfortable chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."

He took the news in silence, which somehow made it worse. I kept talking, trying to explain how it had happened, how Bianca had sacrificed herself to save the quest. But I felt like I was only making things worse. Then again, I knew that nothing I said could make things better. Nico had lost his only family and nothing would fix that.

"She wanted you to have this." I brought out the little god figurine Bianca had found in the junkyard. Nico held it in his palm and stared at it.

We were standing at the dining pavilion, where we'd last spoken just before I left to go on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp's magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps. I figured outside the camp borders, there must be a blizzard happening.

"You promised you would protect her," Nico said.

He might as well have stabbed me with a rusty dagger.

It would've hurt less than reminding me of my promise.

"Nico," I said, my voice strained. "I promised that I'd  _try_  and I did. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. She—"

"You promised!"

He glared at me, his eyes rimmed with red. He closed his small fist around the god statue.

"I shouldn't have trusted you." His voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"

That worried me. "What nightmares?"

He flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble. "I hate you!"

"Nico, we didn't find a body-" I knew it was a bad idea, Bianca was almost certainly dead, but I tried to give the grieving child some hope anyways.

"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His whole body trembled with rage. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."

"What do you mean, you can feel it?"

Before he could answer, I heard a new sound behind me. A hissing, clattering noise I recognized all too well.

I drew my sword and Nico gasped. I whirled and found myself facing four skeleton warriors. They grinned fleshless grins and advanced with swords drawn. I wasn't sure how they'd made it inside the camp, but it didn't matter. I'd never get help in time.

"You're trying to kill me!" Nico screamed. "You brought these… these things?"

"No! I mean, yes, they followed me, but no! Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."

"I don't trust you!"

"Nico please!"

The first skeleton charged. I knocked aside its' blade, but the other three kept coming. I sliced one in half, but immediately it began to knit back together. I knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting.

"Run, Nico!" I yelled. "Get help!"

"No!" He pressed his hands to his ears.

I couldn't fight four at once, not if they wouldn't die. I slashed, whirled, blocked, jabbed, but they just kept advancing. It was only a matter of seconds before the zombies overpowered me.

"No!" Nico shouted louder. "Go away!"

The ground rumbled beneath me. The skeletons froze. I rolled out of the way just as a crack opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth. Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeletons in one loud CRUNCH!

Silence.

In the place where the skeletons had stood, a twenty-foot-long scar wove across the marble floor of the pavilion. Otherwise there was no sign of the warriors.

Awestruck and terrified, I looked to Nico. "How did you—"

"Go away!" he yelled. "I hate you! I wish you were dead!"

The ground didn't swallow me up, but Nico ran down the steps, heading toward the woods. I started to follow but slipped and fell to the icy steps. When I got up, I noticed what I'd slipped on.

I picked up the god statue Bianca had retrieved from the junkyard for Nico. The only statue he didn't have, she'd told me. A last gift from his sister.

I stared at it with dread, because now I understood why the face looked familiar. Why Bianca and Nico had both seemed familiar. I'd seen it before.

It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead.

Ana helped me search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico.

"We can't tell Chiron," Ana muttered. "Gods this is a disaster. Why can't the gods keep their word? Even Hades broke the oath! Gods!"

"I don't think Hades broke the oath," I corrected her, remembering my conversation with the other questers back in the desert.

"What?"

"He's definitely their father," I agreed, "but Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before World War II."

"That's right," Ana realized. "They were stuck in the Lotus Casino, weren't they? But how did they get out?"

"Bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to Westover Hall." I ran a hand through my hair, frowning deeply. "I don't know who. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But you're right that we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"

"It might start them fighting among each other again," Ana finished. "That's the last thing we need."

"You know this means it might not be you right?" I said abruptly. "It could be Nico."

Ana shook her head. "It has to be me," she insisted. "Nico's only a kid. It  _has_  to be me."

Her jaw was tense, and I knew what she was thinking. Nico was a grieving boy, naïve to the world both mythological and 'real'. Adding the weight of the entire world to his shoulders was a cruelty that Ana would never allow. Never mind how cruel it was to her, Ana would always put others ahead of herself. In retrospect, I couldn't believe that I hadn't figured out Ana's fatal flaw earlier. In hindsight, it was so obvious.

I wasn't sure Chiron believed the story that Ana and I told him. I think he could tell I was holding something back about Nico's disappearance, but in the end, he accepted it. Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.

"So young," Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."

That idea made me really uneasy. I almost changed my mind about telling Chiron, but I didn't.

"You really think the first attack will be here?" Ana asked.

Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. I could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.

"It will not be until summer, at least," he said. This winter will be hard… the hardest for many centuries. You two should rest, and train hard. You will need it."

Ana opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Grover, who stumbled out of the Big House with wide eyes and a pale face, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a spectre.

"He spoke.'" Grover cried.

"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"

"I… I was playing music in the parlour," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

"Who?" Ana demanded.

"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to… I have to find a suitcase. Quickly! I need to go!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said. "What did he say?"

Grover stared at me. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you...'"


End file.
